Oda Nobukatsu
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(also pronounced Nobuo; 1558-1630) was the second son of the famed Oda Nobunaga.
In 1570, Nobukatsu became an adopted heir of the Kitabatake clan and married a daughter of the former lord of Kitabatake, Tomonori. The true nature of this marriage was a condition of truce forced by the Oda to the Kitabatake. In 1575, Nobukatsu officially became the head of the family. The next year, he killed his father-in-law, imprisoned the previous lord, who was his father by adoption, and completely took over the Kitabatake clan.
In 1579, eager to achieve fame, Nobukatsu directed an invasion to Iga, which only ended in disastrous failure and severe rebuke from his father. Two years later, Nobunaga himself led another invasion with an army of several ten thousand and destroyed the whole region.
When Nobunaga died in the betrayal of Honnouji (1582) along with his heir Nobutada, difficult situation arose for who will succeed the lordship of Oda clan. Though Nobukatsu's younger brother Nobutaka intended to become the new lord, the retainers decided on the two-year-old son of Nobutada, Sanboshi. It is said that the opinion of Toyotomi Hideyoshi was most influential on this decision, and Hideyoshi, Nobukatsu, and Nobutaka were assigned to the custodian of the new lord. At this point, Nobukatsu changed his surname back to Oda.
During the succeeding chaotic years, first Nobutada was destroyed by Hideyoshi in league with Nobukatsu. However, soon their relationship became hostile, too, and Nobukatsu allied with Tokugawa Ieyasu to fight against Hideyoshi in the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute in 1584.
After more than a half year of battles, Hideyoshi indigenously persuaded Nobukatsu to make peace arbitrarily, offering him the security of the dominion. Nobukatsu took this offer and practically became a retainer of Hideyoshi. Later when he served at the siege of Odawara (1590), he refused to accept the order of Hideyoshi to change his dominion, and not only lost his original dominion but also had to become a monk and be put under control of other retainers of Hideyoshi. In few years the anger of Hideyoshi eased and he regained some land to dominate.
Though he is often described as an incompetent general, he at least managed to survive the series of upheavals. After the establishment of Tokugawa shogunate, he acquired some land, and he comfortably spent the later years in Kyoto.
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