Kintsune SAIONJI, who was a great grandson of Michisue, was confined by the imperial court during the Jokyu-no-ran War because, having married the niece of MINAMOTO no Yoritomo, he was being watched over as a relative of the Kamakura bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun); after the war, however, Kintsune gained the confidence of the shogunate, wielded the real power in the imperial court through holding the office of Kanto Moshitsugi, and rose to the position of Daijo daijin (grand minister of state), raising the social standing of the Saionji Family.
通季の曾孫西園寺公経のとき、源頼朝の姪を妻としていたことから承久の乱に際して鎌倉幕府の縁者として警戒されて朝廷に幽閉され、かえって乱後に幕府の信任を受けて関東申次として朝廷の実権を握り、太政大臣にまでのぼって家格を高めた。