Trần Thánh Tông
Trần Thánh Tông, given name Trần Hoảng, was the second emperor of the Trần dynasty, reigning over Đại Việt from 1258 to 1278. After ceding the throne to his son Trần Nhân Tông, Thánh Tông held the title Retired Emperor from 1279 to his death in 1290. During the second and the third Mongol invasions of Đại Việt, the Retired Emperor Thánh Tông and the Emperor Nhân Tông were credited as the supreme commanders who led the nation to the final victories and as a result established a long period of peace and prosperity over the country. With his successful ruling in both military and civil matters, Trần Thánh Tông was considered as one of the greatest emperors of not only the Trần dynasty but also the whole dynastic era in the History of Vietnam.
Background and during Thái Tông's reign
Thánh Tông was born on September 25 of the lunar calendar 1240 as Trần Hoảng, the second prince but the first natural son of the Emperor Trần Thái Tông and Empress Consort Thuận Thiên. He had a half-brother on the mother's side, Prince Tĩnh Quốc Trần Quốc Khang, who was born after the forced marriage by Trần Thủ Độ between the Emperor Nhân Tông and Princess Thuận Thiên. In fact, although being Thái Tông's first prince, Trần Quốc Khang was the son of his elder brother Prince Hoài Trần Liễu, therefore officially he was not chosen by Thái Tông as the heir, a position which ultimately belonged to prince Trần Hoảng. Besides Prince Tĩnh Quốc, Trần Hoảng had some other younger brothers including Prince Chiêu Minh Trần Quang Khải, who was also given birth by Empress Thuận Thiên, Prince Chiêu Quốc Trần Ích Tắc or Prince Chiêu Văn Trần Nhật Duật.In 1257, Crown Prince Trần Hoảng witnessed the first Mongol invasion in Vietnam. In the beginning, Đại Việt's army suffered several defeats by the Mongols who had already conquered a vast area in Asia. Several high-ranking officials of Trần dynasty were so frightened that Prince Khâm Thiên Trần Nhật Hiệu, younger brother of Thái Tông, even suggested the Emperor that they might escape from Đại Việt to the Song dynasty. But because of the firm faith of the Emperor Thái Tông, grand chancellor Trần Thủ Độ and the talents of generals such as Prince Hưng Đạo Trần Quốc Tuấn and Lê Phụ Trần, the Trần dynasty was able to throw back the invasion and ultimately re-established the peace in Đại Việt in December 1257.
Returned to the capital Thăng Long, Trần Thái Tông decided to cede the throne to Crown Prince Trần Hoảng, now Trần Thánh Tông, on the 24th day of the second lunar month 1258. After the coronation, Thánh Tông changed the era name to Thiệu Long. During his reign, the emperor had one more era name, which was Bảo Phù. Although passing the throne to his son, Thái Tông continued to rule the country with Thánh Tông in the position of Retired Emperor from 1259 to his death in 1277.
As emperor
After the enthronement, Thánh Tông and his father began to rehabilitate both the country's economy and administrative system, which had been heavily damaged by the Mongol invasion and the troubled time at the end of the Lý dynasty. In June 1261 the Emperor opened an examination for scholars who wanted to be appointed as mandarins of the administrative system. The examination comprised two abilities of writing and calculating. In the royal court, Thánh Tông proved to be a skilled ruler with his often right appointment of officials such as his brother Prince Chiêu Minh Trần Quang Khải for the position of grand chancellor or Lê Phụ Trần and Prince Hưng Đạo Trần Quốc Tuấn for the position of military commander. For members of the royal family, Thánh Tông had them hire the poor to cultivate their land and thus created a social reform.In March 1266 Trần Thánh Tông ordered to carry out his first imperial examination in which over 50 scholars was chosen for high-ranking positions in the royal court and administrative system of Đại Việt. For the purpose of educating more scholars for the royal court, Thánh Tông permitted his brother Trần Ích Tắc, to open a private school at the latter's palace due to his intellectual ability. Several prominent mandarins of the royal court in the future such as Mạc Đĩnh Chi or Bùi Phóng were trained in this school. At the same time, the Emperor also reinforced Đại Việt's army by several recruitements and reorganization of the military organization in order to improve its efficiency. Besides, Trần Thánh Tông always kept a vigilant eye for the northern border by sending several scout units to learn about military actions of the Yuan dynasty, the potential threat for Đại Việt.
After the death of the Retired Emperor Trần Thái Tông on April 1 of Lunar calendar, 1277, the Emperor Trần Thánh Tông officially began to reign as the sole ruler of Đại Việt, but only one year later, he decided to pass the throne to his crown prince Trần Khâm, now Trần Nhân Tông, took up the post of Retired Emperor on the 22nd of the tenth lunar month 1278.
As retired emperor
Second Mongol invasion
In 1279, the Yuan dynasty had the decisive victory over the Song dynasty in the Battle of Yamen which marked the end of the Song dynasty and the total control of Kublai Khan over China. As a result, Kublai Khan began to expose his attempt to take over the southern countries like Đại Việt or Champa. Aware of the situation, Thánh Tông and Nhân Tông began to prepare the Trần dynasty for the obvious and inevitable war while tried to keep a flexible policy with the Yuan dynasty. Firstly, Prince Chiêu Văn Trần Nhật Duật was appointed for the mission of pacifying the revolt led by Trịnh Giác Mật in Đà Giang by diplomatic means in order to keep the country in stability before the war. With his knowledge of minority people's language and culture, Trần Nhật Duật successfully accomplished his task in 1278, hence, the Trần dynasty had free hand to deal with the threat from the North. In October 1282, the Retired Emperor Trần Thánh Tông and the Emperor Trần Nhân Tông gathered all members of royal family, Trần clan and officials in royal court in Bình Than to discuss about the unadvoidable war. Two prominent generals of the Đại Việt army who were noticed on this occasion were Trần Khánh Dư, former commander of the army but was deprived of all titles after his guilt, and Trần Quốc Toản, a marquis who was only sixteen years old. In 1283, Prince Hưng Đạo Trần Quốc Tuấn was appointed as commander in chief of Đại Việt army, the Retired Emperor and the Emperor began to hold military exercises with their generals and troops.In December 1284, the second Yuan invasion of Đại Việt was opened under the command of Kublai Khan's prince Toghan. Đại Việt was attacked in two directions, Toghan himself conducted the infantry invaded from the northern border while the Yuan navy under general Sogetu advanced from the southern border through Champa's territory. In the beginning of the war, Thánh Tông and Nhân Tông had to order the army retreat to avoid the pressure from the Yuan force when Prince Chiêu Minh Trần Quang Khải commanded troops try to stop Sogetu's fleet in the Nghệ An Province. During this time, there were several high-ranking officials and members of royal family of the Trần dynasty defected to Yuan's side including Thánh Tông's own brother, Prince Chiêu Quốc Trần Ích Tắc and Trần Kiện who was son of Prince Tĩnh Quốc Trần Quốc Khang. For the safeness of Thánh Tông and Nhân Tông's retreat, Princess An Tư was offered as present and diversion for prince Toghan while Marquis Bảo Nghĩa Trần Bình Trọng was captured and later killed in the Battle of Đà Mạc in defending the two emperors. In the southern border, Trần Quang Khải also had to retreat under the pressure of Sogetu's navy and the defection of the governor of Nghe An. Despite the repeated problems, the royal family and royal court of the Trần dynasty still kept their harmony and determination owing to accurates decisions and actions from the leaders Thánh Tông, Nhân Tông, Trần Quốc Tuấn and Trần Quang Khải.
The critical situation of the Trần dynasty began to change after their victory in Battle of Hàm Tử in April 1285, where the troops commanded by Trần Nhật Duật, Prince Chiêu Thành, Trần Quốc Toản, and Nguyễn Khoái were finally able to defeat the fleet of general Sogetu. On May 10 of Lunar calendar 1285, Trần Quang Khải fought the decisive battle in Chương Dương where Yuan's navy was almost destroyed and therefore the balance in battlefield titled definitely in favour of the Trần dynasty. 10 days after Sogetu was killed and the Trần Emperor Nhân Tông and Retired Emperor Thánh Tông returned to the capital, Thăng Long, on June 6 of the Lunar calendar, 1285.
Third Mongol invasion
In March 1287, the Yuan dynasty launched their third invasion of Đại Việt. Unlike the second attack, this time commander in chief Prince Hưng Đạo Trần Quốc Tuấn affirmed with the Emperor that Đại Việt's army could easily break the Yuan's military campaign. Indeed, this invasion was ended one year later by a disastrous defeat of the Yuan navy in Battle of Bạch Đằng on March 8 of the lunar calendar, 1288. Besides Trần Quốc Tuấn, other notable generals of the Trần dynasty during this time were Prince Nhân Huệ Trần Khánh Dư who destroyed the logistics convoy of Yuan navy in the Battle of Vân Đồn or general Phạm Ngũ Lão who took charge of ambushing prince Toghan's retreating troops.In rewarding Trần dynasty generals and mandarins after the victory, Thánh Tông and Nhân Tông also reminded them of the caution to the northern border. About the defectors to Yuan side, the Emperor issued an order in which the family name of every defected member of Trần clan was changed to Mai, for example Trần Kiện was renamed as Mai Kiện, being the only defected prince of Trần clan, Trần Ích Tắc was exempted from this order but he was called in historical accounts of the Trần dynasty by the name "Ả Trần" meaning that Trần Ích Tắc was "coward as a woman".
The Retired Emperor Trần Thánh Tông died on May 25 of the Lunar calendar, 1290 at the age of 50. He was buried in Dụ Lăng with the posthumous name Huyền công thịnh đức nhân minh văn vũ tuyên hiếu hoàng đế.