公家庭中の成立と奉行 : 中世公家訴訟制に関する基礎的考察

抄録

There has been a tendency among Japanese historians to slight the litigation system of the medieval imperial court resulting in, very few studies on being done this theme. Recently, however, several important aspects have become clear. First, in the latter half of the Kamakura period, both the Kamakura bakufu and the imperial court administered matters with benevolence, while pursuing a revival of the zasso system (雑訴の興行). Second, the Kamakura bakufu encouraged court nobles to handle independently legal matters related to the imperial court, a move which in turn helped to revitalize the imperial court. Based on these studies, the author believes that an investigation of the imperial litigation system is fundamental in grasping the political history of the late Kamakura period. In the present article, the author examines both the establishment of the legal institution teichu (direct petition from "within the garden") executed by the court nobility, and the role of functionaries (bugyo) within the framework of this institution. First, in the imperial litigation system, each functionary had his speciality and dealt exclusively with cases subsumed under that area (tanto bugyo-sei). This system was first established in the reign of ex-emperor GoSaga, who particularly endeavored to revive the practice of zasso, which was later codified in 1317. Considering the foregoing facts the author believes that the establishment of the tanto-bugyo system had great significance for the revival of zasso in the medieval imperial administration. This system, however, was defective in one important aspect. Functionaries' procrastination and negligence of their duties directly caused the delay of the litigation procedure. It was this defect which triggered the necessity of institutions such as teichu, where one could directly file petitions. Abundant examples indicate the dramatically increasing role of teichu as time progressed. By the beginning of the fourteenth century, upper-class court nobles including dainagon (chief councillors of state), and even emperors themselves served as judges. 'Negligence' on the part of bugyo, again, not only hastened the development of teichu, but also increased the significance of the institution. Taking these facts into consideration, the Teichu Shikijitus (the day of teichu) suggested that, if necessary, even emperors should execute jurisdiction to obtain sage judgement. This suggestion epitomizes the revival of the legal practice, zasso, which was greatly reinforced by the popularity of teichu. The imperial court legal institution, teichu which was first established in 1293 and was consistently developed and improved there after, could be, therefore, regarded as the zenith in the history of the zasso revival supported by the imperial court authority.