Lý Chiêu Hoàng (1218–1278) was
the ninth and last sovereign of the
Lý Dynasty from 1224 to 1225 and the only empress regnant in the
history of Vietnam. Chosen by the Emperor
Lý Huệ Tông as his successor at the age of only six, Lý Chiêu Hoàng ruled the country under the total influence of
Trần Thủ Độ and the Trần clan in the royal court. It was Trần Thủ Độ who arranged the marriage between the 6-year old empress regnant and his 7-year-old nephew
Trần Cảnh and ultimately overthrew the Lý Dynasty to found the
Trần Dynasty in 1225. After the coronation of Trần Cảnh, now Trần Thái Tông, Lý Chiêu Hoàng was downgraded to Empress Chiêu Thánh and finally to Princess Chiêu Thánh when she was forced by Trần Thủ Độ to give up the position of empress consort to her elder sister Princess
Thuận Thiên. Afterwards, she was married one more time to general
Lê Phụ Trần, with whom she had two children. Lý Chiêu Hoàng's complicated and tragic life was a fine example of the turbulent time of the Late Lý and Early Trần Dynasty in the history of Vietnam.