This branch of regents and advisors had suffered the confiscation of FUJIWARA no Tadazane's chigyo-koku (provincial fiefdom) as well as Yorinaga's territories due to the Hogen Rebellion, and worse yet the execution of MINAMOTO no Tameyoshi, a retainer on whose military strength they had increasingly come to rely to manage their shoen properties; as a result, their power had greatly waned, as evidenced by the disputes over ownership of their lands escalating all over the country.
摂関家は保元の乱によって藤原忠実の知行国・頼長の所領が没収された上に、家人として荘園管理の武力を担っていた源為義が処刑されたことで各地の荘園で紛争が激化するなど、その勢力を大きく後退させていた。