Lý Huệ Tông

Names
	Lý Sảm (李旵) or Lý Hạo Sảm(李昊旵)
Era dates
	Kiến Gia (建嘉): 1210 – 10/1224
Regnal name
	Tự Thiên Thống Ngự Khâm Nhân Hoành Hiếu Hoàng đế (資天統御欽仁宏孝皇帝)
Temple name
	Huệ Tông (惠宗)

Lý Huệ Tông
李惠宗
Lý Huệ Tông; 李惠宗
Emperor of Đại Việt
Emperor of the Lý dynasty
Reign	15/11/1210–3/9/1224
Predecessor	Lý Cao Tông
Successor	Lý Chiêu Hoàng
Retired Emperor of the Lý dynasty
Reign	1224–1226
Predecessor	Sùng Hiền hầu
Successor	Trần Thái Tổ (of Trần dynasty)
Born	July 1194; Thăng Long
Died	3 September 1226 (aged 31–32); Chân Giáo pagoda, Thăng Long
Burial	Thọ Tomb
Spouse	Trần Thị Dung
Issue	Thuận Thiên (Trần dynasty empress); Princess Phật Kim as Lý Chiêu Hoàng
Names
Names
	Lý Sảm (李旵) or Lý Hạo Sảm(李昊旵)
Era dates
	Kiến Gia (建嘉): 1210 – 10/1224
Regnal name
	Tự Thiên Thống Ngự Khâm Nhân Hoành Hiếu Hoàng đế (資天統御欽仁宏孝皇帝)
Temple name
	Huệ Tông (惠宗)
House	Lý
Father	Lý Cao Tông
Mother	Empress An Toàn
Religion	Buddhism

Lý Huệ Tông (chữ Hán: 李惠宗; born Lý Sảm 李旵; July 1194 – 3 September 1226) was the emperor of Vietnam from 1211 to 1224, the penultimate leader of the Lý dynasty. During Lý Huệ Tông's rule, many members of the Trần family assumed key roles in the government, including Trần Thủ Độ. The Trần family later used its position of power to place a young Trần Cảnh (temple name Trần Thái Tông) on the throne to found the Trần dynasty.^[1]

Biography

In 1224, Lý Huệ Tông became mentally ill, and the issue of succession became pressing. He had produced no male heirs, and so appointed his seven-year-old daughter Lý Chiêu Hoàng as his successor. Although a female ruler would likely not have been normally acceptable to the court, Trần Thủ Độ had a scheme to end the Lý dynasty and place a Trần on the throne which depended on the existence of a young empress, and so Lý Chiêu Hoàng was accepted as empress. Lý Huệ Tông retired to become a Buddhist monk, although he lived only two more years. In 1226 Trần Thủ Độ, while consolidating the power of the newly founded Trần dynasty by eliminating Lý family members and potential pretenders, induced Lý Huệ Tông to commit suicide.

References

^ Anh Thư Hà & Hồng Đức Trần (2000). A Brief Chronology of Vietnam's History. p. 70. By the end of 1210, Sảm ascended the throne as emperor Lý Huệ Tông and appointed Trân Thị Dung as royal concubine and, in mid-1216, as Queen. Lý Huệ Tông and Trân Thị Dung had two princesses: Thuận Thiên (who married Trân).