Lê Trang Tông

Mạc Đăng Dung, famed for his strength and cunning, had gotten got his start around 1506 as a bodyguard for the cruel and reviled Lê Emperor of Dai Viet, Lê Uy Mục.

Despite the deaths of several emperors, Mạc Đăng Dung had increased his power over time and gained many supporters.

However, he had also gained the enmity of other rivals for power.

A civil war starting around 1520 will last, with occasional breaks, for the next one hundred and fifty years.

The young Emperor, Lê Chiêu Tông, apparently fearing the growing ambition of Mạc Đăng Dung, fled to the south.

A revolt had begun, with the Trịnh and the Nguyễn families claiming to support the Emperor against the power of Mạc Đăng Dung.

Mạc Đăng Dung had responded by proclaimed the Emperor's younger brother, Prince Xuan, was now the true Emperor and installed him as Emperor under the name Lê Cung Hoàng.

The revolt had ended, temporarily, when Mạc Đăng Dung's forces captured and executed Lê Chiêu Tông along with the leaders of the revolt.

Mạc Đăng Dung in 1527 had removed the figurehead Emperor he had installed earlier and proclaimed himself as the new Emperor under the title Minh Đức.

This usurpation of the throne from the rightful Lê Emperors was not well received by the officials in the government.

Some were killed, some committed suicide, and some have fled to the south to join a new revolt by the Trịnh and the Nguyễn families against the Mạc Emperors.

A new revolt had begun, and both sides try to pull in allies, mainly the Ming dynasty but also King Phothisarat I of Lan Xang (modern-day Laos).

Mạc Đăng Dung, through submissive diplomacy and massive bribes, had persuaded the Ming not to attack in 1528, managing to obtain a temporary recognition of his rule.

He had abdicated his position as Emperor the following year in favor of his son, Mạc Đăng Doanh.

However, this had been done purely to solidify his son's claim to rule after he is gone.

In reality, Mạc Đăng Dung continues to rule with the title of Senior Emperor.

His son is not the equal of his father and as a result of several defeats, he has lost control of the provinces south of the Red River as the revolt has gathered strength.

The Nguyễn-Trịnh army in 1533 conquers the Winter Palace and proclaims Lê Trang Tông the rightful ruler of Vietnam.

The figurehead Lê emperor is officially crowned at the newly recaptured southern capital.

The situation for Mạc Đăng Doanh turns desperate a few years later as an official Ming delegation reports that the Mạc rule is illegitimate and that the Lê should be restored to power.

As a result, in 1537 a huge Ming army comes down from the north with orders to defeat the Mạc.

In the summer of this year, Mạc Đăng Doanh dies and his father reclaims the throne.

Once again, Mạc Đăng Dung manages to send the Ming away by means of diplomacy (and bribes).

The Ming official position is that the Mạc should rule over the northern half of Vietnam, while the Lê should rule over the southern half (in other words, below the Red River).

The Ming army now returns home, but the Nguyễn and the Trịnh refuse to accept this division of the country and the war continues.