At the end of the 12th century, the attentions of the monks of Mount Hiei were turned towards a greater conflict: the Genpei War. The Taira and Minamoto families supported different claimants to the Chrysanthemum Throne, and in June 1180, the Minamoto brought their claimant, Prince Mochihito, to the Mii-dera, fleeing from Taira samurai. Mii-dera asked for aid from Enryaku-ji, but was denied. The monks of the Mii-dera joined the Minamoto army, and fled to the Byōdō-in, a Fujiwara clan villa, which had been converted to a monastery by Mii-dera monks (see Battle of Uji (1180)).