Fujiwara no Takatada (藤原隆忠)
FUJIWARA no Takatada (1163 - 1245) was a court noble who lived around the end of the Heian period to the beginning of the Kamakura period. His father was the Regent Motofusa MATSUDONO, his mother was the naidaijin (minister of the center) Kiminori SANJO's daughter. Although he was the first son, he was considered as a branch line and did not go by the family name of 'Matsudono' but used 'Daikakuji sadaijin' (however, some documents use the notation 'Takatada MATSUDONO' just as a convention).
He was born as the eldest son of the Regent family Motofusa MATSUDONO but when his brother Moroie MATSUDONO was born, Moroie became the heir because his maternal grandfather had been Daijodaijin (Grand minister of state) and hence of better birth, and Takatada was called 'Rakuin' (child born out of wedlock).
On December 12, 1174, he was appointed as Shogoinoge (Senior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade) Jiju (chamberlain), which drew criticism from Motofusa's younger brother Kanezane KUJO because it was tradition at that time to give Shogoinoge only to the legitimate heir upon his initial appointment and all other children receive Jugoinojo (Junior Fifth Rank, Upper Grade) even if they are the children of the Kanpaku ("Gyokuyo" (A Diary by Kanezane KUJO)).
Later, his court position was taken away when his father was exiled by TAIRA no Kiyomori in 1179. Four years later, he returned as Chunagon (vice-councilor of state), and was promoted smoothly thereafter, becoming Naidaijin in 1201 and Udaijin (minister of the right) in 1204, surpassing his younger half-brother Moroie MATSUDONO, who was without a post after being regent udaijin. In 1207, he became Sadaijin (minister of the left), and climbed to Juichii (Junior First Rank) in 1211. He became a monk and retired from politics just before the Jyokyu Rebellion in 1220.
Recently, he was thought to be a strong contender as the author of "Rokudai Shojiki" (Record of Winning Events for Six Emperors).