Katsuragawa Sokushō Myōōin 葛川息障明王院, a Tendai Buddhist temple, is located in Ōtsu city, Shiga Prefecture. The temple is known as the center of Sennichi kaihōgyō 千日回峰行(one-thousand-day circumambulation-of-themountain practice) by the Tendai monks of Mt. Hiei. The documents of Myōōin, which are kept in the temple, have been studied by researchers examining the history of medieval religion, landholdings, and village life. Previous studies have usually focused on the early medieval period at Katsuragawa because many of the documents related to the conflicts between the villagers in Katsuragawa and in other estates contain a great deal of information. The study of the late-medieval period of Katsuragawa has been advanced by two or three researchers, but many points remain unclear. In this paper I demonstrate that the ruling structure at Katsuragawa was composed of the Gyōjachū 行者中(monks practicing the Kaihōgyō), the Katsuragawa Bettō 葛川別当(the head monk of Gyōjachū and the abbot of Shōren-in 青蓮院. I then make clear how these rulers dealt with the residents of Katsuragawa. The structure of rule in Katsuragawa was changed when Sonnen 尊円, the abbot of Shōren-in, granted the name Sokushō Myōōin to the temple in 1338. The Gyōjachū then gained independence from the rule of Mudoji無動寺 temple. Before and after the event, the Jōjūsō 常住僧, who was the caretaker monk in charge of Myōōin, worked to secure the financial basis of the temple. Independence was thus realized by the Gyōjachū themselves. In the early days, the monks who served as Katsuragawa Bettō were experienced monks. But in the earlier part of the fifteenth century, the position of Katsuragawa Bettō was inherited by monks of one minor temple, Fudō-in 不動院. This situation meant the that abbots of the specific minor temples classified as Shusse 出世came to be chosen as Katsuragawa Bettō. In those days, the succession of the abbot of Shōren-in had also become stable. In the fourteenth century, the Gyōjachū started to issue documents in the style of Shūe-Kotogaki 集会事書, which meant that they had become an independent group at Mt. Hiei, among the head temples of the Tendai sect. In the fifteenth century, they started to use the collective title San-in 三院. This trend seems to be related to the extinction of the Waki-Monzeki 脇門跡 (quasi- temples whose abbot was an imperial prince) because the Gyōjachū consisted of monks belonging to several different Waki-Monzeki. Ashikaga Yoshimitsu 足利義満and Yoshihisa 義尚, the third and ninth shoguns of the Muromachi shogunate, prayed and went into reclusion at Myōōin. The Katsuragawa Bettō presented mushrooms, which were a special product of Katsuragawa, to the shogun every year. Some members of the Gyōjachū took part in prayers for court nobles and warriors. Due to these events, Katsuragawa became a sacred place and an official prayer temple for courtiers and warriors. The residents of Katsuragawa asserted the high status of Katsuragawa when they had disputes with villages of other estates. The Katsuragawa Bettō ideally had the authority of police and jurisdiction, but he was dependent on the shogunate to control the residents of Katsuragawa. When troubles between residents occurred, the Gyōjachū sought to solve the problem, however they lacked coercive force. Members of Gyōjachū practiced religious activities such as exorcisms and they attracted the trust of courtiers and warriors. It is important to appreciate the function of their social status when analyzing the medieval history of Katsuragawa and its character.