Tadatsugu Ikeda (1/2)A regrettable death at a young age

From the Sengoku period to the Edo period, many talented military commanders appeared and disappeared. Among them, the Ikeda family continued with Ikeda Tsuneoki, who served Oda Nobunaga, and Ikeda Terumasa, who served Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu. After that, it was taken over by Tadatsugu Ikeda, who will be introduced here, and flourished as a daimyo until the end of the Edo period. So, how did the Ikeda family maintain their home? This time, we will focus on the life of Tadatsugu Ikeda, the grandson of Tsuneoki Ikeda.

Great grandfather Tsuneoki Ikeda

Tsuneoki Ikeda was the reason why the Ikeda family became known to the world.
Tsuneoki served Nobunaga from an early age as Oda Nobunaga's brother and page, and served Nobunaga as he unified Owari, captured Mino Province, and became a powerful feudal lord during the Sengoku period, demonstrating his power as a senior vassal.

He always follows Oda Nobunaga in the major battles he fought, and increases his presence among Nobunaga's vassals. Araki Murashige, who rebelled against Nobunaga, attacked Settsu Hanakuma Castle (Battle of Hanakuma Castle) and began to rule over that former territory.

After Oda Nobunaga was defeated by his senior vassal Mitsuhide Akechi during the Honnoji Incident, he joined up with Hashiba Hideyoshi (Toyotomi Hideyoshi) who had returned from the invasion of China, and at the Battle of Yamazaki, served as the spearhead on the right wing and defeated Mitsuhide, becoming the elder lord of the Oda family. You will have to queue. At the Kiyosu Conference that followed, he supported Nobunaga's legitimate grandson, Sanboshi (Hidenobu Oda), along with Hideyoshi and Nagahide Niwa, and in the redistribution of territory, he acquired 120,000 koku in Osaka, Amagasaki, and Hyogo in Settsu Province, and the future of the Ikeda family. Build a foundation.

Continuing achievements of my father Terumasa Ikeda

His father, Terumasa Ikeda, succeeded his grandfather, Tsuneoki Ikeda.
In February 1582, when Oda Nobunaga died in the Honnoji Incident, Terumasa went to the front with his brother to conquer Koshu, and participated in the Battle of Yamazaki, where Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Akechi Mitsuhide clashed, and was nominated by Nobunaga's vassals. With the successful transition of his father Tsuneoki to become a vassal of Hideyoshi, the Ikeda family became more stable.

He became the lord of Ikejiri Castle (Ogaki City, Gifu Prefecture) and Gifu Castle, and accompanied Hideyoshi in important battles related to the unification of Japan. Afterwards, he became the lord of Yoshida Castle (Toyohashi City, Aichi Prefecture).
When Toyotomi Hideyoshi's nephew and Kanpaku, Hidetsugu Toyotomi, was overthrown, many of Hidetsugu's wives and concubines were executed, but Terumasa's younger sister Wakamandokoro (Hidetsugu's legal wife) was spared as an exception. He was treated with special respect by Hideyoshi. They were treated well and treated second only to the Toyotomi family.

The next crisis came after Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death.
After Hideyoshi's death, the conflict between Tokugawa Ieyasu and Ishida Mitsunari, who was responsible for Hideyoshi's orphaned child Hideyori, deepened, eventually leading to the Battle of Sekigahara.
Depending on whether you side with the eastern army led by Ieyasu or the western army led by Mitsunari and others, your postwar fate will change dramatically. Terumasa became closer to Ieyasu and began to work more often with other military commanders such as Masanori Fukushima and Kiyomasa Kato. As a result, he sided with the Eastern Army and acquired 520,000 koku of Harima-Himeji, becoming the first lord of the Himeji domain and further stabilizing the Ikeda family.

From the birth of Tadatsugu Ikeda to his entry into Okayama Castle and his premature death

Tadatsugu Ikeda was born in Fushimi on February 18, 1599. Her father was Terumasa Ikeda and her mother was Tokuhime, the second daughter of Tokugawa Ieyasu. His childhood name was Fujimatsu. Tadatsugu was the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu, and as a successor to Hideaki Kobayakawa, who ruled the Okayama Domain, who was left without an heir, Tadatsugu was only 5 years old in 1603, when he was only 5 years old, and he was given 280,000 koku in Bizen Okayama. It was done.

However, it was naturally impossible for Tadatsugu, who was still young, to carry out political affairs. Instead, his half-brother, Toshitaka Ikeda, entered Okayama Castle to act as steward, and Tadatsugu continued to grow up at Himeji Castle, where his father lived.
He grew up in Himeji Castle, and when his father Terumasa died, he moved to Okayama Castle at the age of 16 as the lord of the Bizen Okayama Domain. From his father's estate, he was given 100,000 koku of cosmetics from his mother, Ryoshoin, in Nishiharima, and as a daimyo with a total of 380,000 koku, he was able to manage political affairs.

Afterwards, he participated in the Osaka Winter Siege as a member of the Tokugawa side with his older brother Toshitaka.
However, after returning to Okayama Castle, he became ill and died there the following year in 1615. Passed away at age 17. At one time, he was engaged to Tadamasa Mori's daughter, but she died before the marriage, so he had no heir, and was succeeded by Tadao, his younger brother from the same mother. The descendants were transferred to the Inaba-Tottori domain during the era of Tadao's eldest son, Mitsunaka, and continued to do so until the end of the Edo period, and still exist today.

Tadatsugu and Poison Manju

Tadatsugu Ikeda died too young, and the legend of the poisoned steamed buns remains.

Tadatsugu's mother, Tokuhime (second daughter of Tokugawa Ieyasu), plots to assassinate Toshitaka, her stepson and the lord of Himeji Castle, in order to make her biological son Tadatsugu the lord of Himeji Castle.
When Toshitaka met Tadatsugu inside Okayama Castle, the Tokuhime poisoned a steamed bun and tried to persuade Toshitaka to do so. However, the maid immediately wrote the word ``doku'' on her palm and showed it to Toshitaka, so Toshitaka was able to get away without touching it.
However, there is a legend that Tadatsugu, who noticed this poisonous manju, stole Toshitaka's poisoned manju instead and ate it, resulting in his death at a young age.
It is said that he risked his life to protect his eldest brother and legitimate heir, Toshitaka. At the end of this, it is said that the governor princess was so ashamed of having tried to feed the poisoned manju that she herself ate the poisoned manju and died.

However, in historical fact, Tadatsugu died in Okayama Castle on February 23, 1615, as mentioned earlier. This legend does not make sense because his mother, Tokuhime, also died at Nijo Castle in Kyoto on February 4, 1615, and was buried at Chion-in Temple in Kyoto.
After the war, excavations were conducted in 1978 (Showa 53) when Tadatsugu-byo was relocated. At that time, the body was investigated to verify the suspicion that he had died from poisoning, but it is said that no evidence of poisoning was found.

Tadatsugu and the Osaka Winter Camp

Shortly after the end of the Osaka Siege, Tadatsugu's vassals gathered inside Okayama Castle and talked about their memories of the Osaka Winter Siege.
Apparently, one of the vassals who had gathered started the conversation by saying, ``This is something I've never told anyone before.''