But having reached the period of the Kowa/Entoku and Genchu/Shitoku eras, Imperial Prince Kaneyoshi, Akiyoshi KITABATAKE, and Imperial Prince Muneyoshi, who had been fighting for the Southern Court from the early days of their anti-shogunal struggle, and had been the Southern Court's main support, died one after the other, and when Emperor Chokei--who had been such a stalwart opponent of the Northern Court--abdicated, the Southern Court entered a period of extreme decline; during the Meitoku period, Yoshimitsu ASHIKAGA was able to greatly reduce the power and influence of the strongest shugo daimyo one after another, until almost all means to resist the Northern Court had been lost.
弘和/永徳・元中/至徳(日本)年間に入ると、南朝は動乱初期からその支えとして活躍してきた懐良親王、北畠顕能、宗良親王の相次ぐ死と、対北朝強硬路線を通していた長慶天皇の譲位により、衰退を極める事となったが、明徳年間の足利義満による相次ぐ有力守護大名勢力削減により、北朝に抵抗する術を殆ど失うようになる。