True Name: Matsudaira Takechiyo (松平 竹千代), then Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川 家康)
Parents: Matsudaira Hirotada, daimyo of Mikawa, and Odainokata
Date of Birth: 31 January 1543
House: Tokugawa
Spouse: Saigo, daughter of Tozuka Tadahru, among many other wives
Spouse: Saigo, daughter of Tozuka Tadahru, among many other wives
Reign: 1603 – 1605
Summary: Ieyasu was born to the Matsudaira clan to a young ruler of Mikawa. His childhood was spent in peril as his clan split between loyalty to two different warlords. In 1548, Ieyasu was sent as a hostage to a rival clan but was captured by another clan on the way. He was raised at the Manshoji Temple in Nagoya for three years, from the age of six to nine. During his captivity, his father died and Ieyasu was ransomed to his originally intended hostage-holders. He spent the next six years as a titular member of the Imagawa clan. At 16, he changed his name to Matsudaira Jirosaburo Motonobu and married his first wife. He was returned to Mikawa where he became leader of the clan. After a few years of intermittent warfare, he allied with the Oda clan against the Imagawa. He invaded the Imagawa land and captured prisoners and territory. Within ten years, Ieyasu was becoming the most powerful warlord in Japan and had taken his final name, Tokugawa Ieyasu. By taking this name, he claimed descent from the Minamoto clan, a clan descended from the 56th emperor, Seiwa. He used Portuguese firearms to win many of his victories. In 1568, his allies in Clan Oda captured the Japanese capital at Kyoto. Ieyasu continued to conquer Japan with his allies until he was forced to parcel lots off to each ally to pacify them. Meanwhile, at the Battle of Shizugatake, Toyotomi Hideyoshi became the most powerful daimyo (duke) in Japan. In 1584, Ieyasu entered the fight to rule Japan. Already overly powerful, he backed the Odo candidate rather than seek the title of shogun himself. Hideyoshi and Ieyasu fought long and hard until the two agreed to a truce. Hideyoshi adopted Ieyasu's son as heir. The two barely cooperated for the next five years until after 1590 when Hideyoshi defeated the last independent daimyo in Japan. Hideyoshi offered the newly-conquered provinces to Ieyasu in exchange for five provinces that Ieyasu controlled. The two agreed and Ieyasu settled in the lands around Edo where he built up his powerbase and became the second most powerful lord in Japan. Whiel Hideyoshi invaded Korea, Ieyasu sought allies in European powers. Hideyoshi died in 1598 leaving his lands in the control of a young son and regents. Over the next five years, Ieyasu manipulated the politics in Hideyoshi's lands to favor him, and eventually, at the battle of Sekigahara, the biggest battle in Japanese history occurred, where a total of 160,000 men fought. Ieyasu defeated his enemies and became the de facto ruler of Japan.
On March 24th, 1603, Emperor Go-Yozei made Ieyasu shogun of Japan at the age of 60. His dynasty would rule Japan for 250 years. He did little during his actual term in office, mostly centralizing and solidifying his control over Japan. He abdicated two years later to his son, Tokugawa Hidetada. But this was mostly done to leave the actual court proceedings to someone else. He remained in power for the last eleven years of his life. In retirement, he supervised the construction of Edo Castle, the largest fortification in Japan. He negotiated with the Netherlands and Spain thought after 1609 he began to distance Japanese politics from foreign powers. In 1614, he banned Christianity from Japan and expelled all known missionaries and foreigners outside of the city of Nagasaki. Most early Japanese converts, the Kirishitans, fled to Macau and the Philippines. A year later, he centralized the Tokugawa government in the Buke Shohatto. The last two years of his life were focused on defeating the heir of Hideyoshi at Osaka Castle. The castle fell in 1615 and nearly everyone was killed in the aftermath. Ieyasu died the next year at the age of 73 having conquered virtually all of Japan during his lifetime. He passed on to his son a centralized nation of Japan, the first verifiable unified Japanese state.
On March 24th, 1603, Emperor Go-Yozei made Ieyasu shogun of Japan at the age of 60. His dynasty would rule Japan for 250 years. He did little during his actual term in office, mostly centralizing and solidifying his control over Japan. He abdicated two years later to his son, Tokugawa Hidetada. But this was mostly done to leave the actual court proceedings to someone else. He remained in power for the last eleven years of his life. In retirement, he supervised the construction of Edo Castle, the largest fortification in Japan. He negotiated with the Netherlands and Spain thought after 1609 he began to distance Japanese politics from foreign powers. In 1614, he banned Christianity from Japan and expelled all known missionaries and foreigners outside of the city of Nagasaki. Most early Japanese converts, the Kirishitans, fled to Macau and the Philippines. A year later, he centralized the Tokugawa government in the Buke Shohatto. The last two years of his life were focused on defeating the heir of Hideyoshi at Osaka Castle. The castle fell in 1615 and nearly everyone was killed in the aftermath. Ieyasu died the next year at the age of 73 having conquered virtually all of Japan during his lifetime. He passed on to his son a centralized nation of Japan, the first verifiable unified Japanese state.
Date of Death: 1 June 1616
Successor: Tokugawa Hidetada
Other Monarch Deaths:
Gaozu, emperor of China (195 BCE)
Didius Julians, emperor of Rome (193)
Dan II, voivode of Wallachia (1432)
Wladislaus II, king of Poland (1434)
Gregory XVI, pope of Rome (1846)
Napoleon IV, pretender to the French Empire (1879)
Birendra, king of Nepal (2001)
No comments:
Post a Comment