In the Kakitsu Incident in which Yoshinori ASHIKAGA was assassinated, his deputy and other officials held consultations and immediately selected the succeeding Shogun, but, since Deputy Ujitsuna HOSOKAWA had died in 1563 before the Eiroku Incident, the position of deputy was unfilled, allowing the functions of the Bakufu to be virtually halted by the Shogun's death.
先に足利義教が暗殺された嘉吉の変では、管領らが協議して直ちに後継将軍が定められたが、永禄の変以前の永禄6年（1563年）に管領細川氏綱が死去して以後、管領は置かれておらず、将軍の死により幕府機能は事実上停止するに至った。