Matsudaira Tadateru

Matsudaira Tadateru (松平忠輝, February 16, 1592 – August 24, 1683) was a daimyō during the Edo period of Japan. He was the sixth son of Tokugawa Ieyasu. He was born in Edo Castle during the year of the dragon (tatsu), and as a child his name was Tatsuchiyo (辰千代). His mother was Lady Chaa (茶阿局, Chaa no Tsubone), a concubine of Ieyasu. Ieyasu sent the boy to live with a vassal, Minagawa Hiroteru, daimyō of the Minagawa Domain in Shimotsuke Province.

Biography edit

Matsudaira Tadateru's grave, at Teishoin in Suwa, Nagano

In 1599, Ieyasu granted him a fief in Musashi Province, and increased his holdings in 1602 and 1603 with transfers first to Shimōsa and then to Shinano Provinces. Tadateru married Irohahime, the first daughter of Date Masamune, in 1606. In 1610, Tadateru became daimyo of Takada in Echigo Province. He had interests in martial arts, tea, and foreign intercourse. It is said that he was baptized a Christian.

Ieyasu regarded Tadateru's wife Masamune as dangerous. Therefore, he was treated coldly by the shogunate. He was assigned to remain in Edo during the Winter Campaign of the Siege of Osaka (1614). He participated in the Summer Campaign (1615), but due to his insubordination during the latter stages of the campaign (perceived not only as defiance of his older brother, the then shōgun Tokugawa Hidetada, but also of their father Ieyasu), he was relieved of command and exiled to Ise, then Hida, and finally Shinano Province, where he remained until his death.^[1]

Tadateru was posthumously pardoned in 1984 by Tokugawa Tsunenari, the head of the former shogunal house.

In popular culture edit

A 1987 television show Dokuganryū Masamune starring Hiroyuki Sanada dramatized the life of Matsudaira Tadateru.

Shinichi Chiba played Matsudaira Tadateru in the 1992 TV series Tokugawa Buraichō (徳川無頼帳).

Family edit

Father: Tokugawa Ieyasu
Mother: Lady Chaa
Adopted Father: Matsudaira Yasutada (1546–1618)
Wife: Irohahime
Concubine: Otake no Kata
Children:
- Tokumatsu (1614-1632) by Otake
- Gotakehime (1615-1621) by Otake

References edit

^ Turnbull, Stephen (2006). Osaka 1615: The last battle of the samurai. Oxford: Osprey. p. 89. ISBN 978-1-84176-960-8. Retrieved 27 March 2022.

External links edit

Matsudaira Tadateru Suwa City Web site (in Japanese)

Preceded by Matsudaira Matsuchiyo	Daimyō of Fukaya 1599–1602	Succeeded by Sakai Tadakatsu
Preceded by Takeda Nobuyoshi	Daimyō of Sakura 1602–1603	Succeeded by Ogasawara Yoshitsugu
Preceded by Mori Tadamasa	Daimyō of Kawanakajima 1603–1610	Succeeded by Matsudaira Masatada
Preceded by Hori Tadatoshi	Daimyō of Takada 1610–1616	Succeeded by Sakai Ietsugu

[1] Turnbull, Stephen (2006). Osaka 1615: The last battle of the samurai. Oxford: Osprey. p. 89. ISBN 978-1-84176-960-8. Retrieved 27 March 2022.

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