Oda Nobukatsu was a Japanese samurai of the Azuchi–Momoyama period.
Background
He was the second son of Oda Nobunaga. In 1570, Nobukatsu became an adopted heir of the and married a daughter of the former lord of Kitabatake, Tomonori. The next year, he killed his father-in-law, imprisoned the previous lord, who was his father by adoption, and completely took over the.
Career
He survived the decline of the Oda clan from political prominence, becoming a daimyo in the early Edo period. Though often described as an incompetent general, Nobukatsu was a skilled warrior. In the battle of Komaki and Nagakute, he used a 13th-century tachi of the Fukuoka Ichimonji school, to slay a samurai known as Okada Sukesaburō, therefore the blade was known as Okada-giri Yoshifusa, now a national treasure.
The true nature of this marriage was a condition of truce forced by the Oda clan to the In 1575, Nobukatsu officially became the head of the family.
Two years later, Nobunaga himself led another invasion with an army of several ten thousand and destroyed the whole region. When Nobunaga and his heir, Nobutada, died at the Incident at Honnō-ji in 1582, problems arose about who would 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, Oda Hidenobu. lieutenant 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.
He succeeded his father as lord of Mino, Owari, and Ise Provinces. During the succeeding chaotic years, Nobukatsu joined with Hideyoshi to destroy Nobutaka. However, soon their relationship became hostile, too, and Nobukatsu allied with Tokugawa Ieyasu to fight Hideyoshi in the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute in 1584.
After more than a half year of battles, Hideyoshi persuaded Nobukatsu to make peace, 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 Hideyoshi"s order to change his dominion, and not only lost his original domain but was also forced to become a monk under the supervision of some Toyotomi retainers.
A few years later, Hideyoshi"s anger eased and Nobukatsu regained some land to rule. He became the guardian of Toyotomi Hideyori after Hideyoshi"s death.
However, he betrayed the Toyotomi clan at the Siege of Osaka, and surrendered to Tokugawa Ieyasu.
As a result, he was permitted to remain a daimyo by the Tokugawa shogunate. Though he is often described as an incompetent general, he managed to survive the series of upheavals. After the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, he became the lord of the Uda-Matsuyama Domain in Yamato Province (modern-day Nara Prefecture), and comfortably lived the rest of his life.
Father: Oda Nobunaga (1536–1582)
Adopted Father: Kitabatake Tomonori
Brothers:
Oda Nobutada (1557–1582)
Oda Nobutaka (1558–1583)
Hashiba Hidekatsu (1567–1585)
Oda Katsunaga (1568–1582)
Oda Nobuhide (1571–1597)
Oda Nobutaka (1576–1602)
Oda Nobuyoshi (1573–1615)
Oda Nobusada (1574–1624)
Oda Nobuyoshi (died 1609)
Oda Nagatsugu (died 1600)
Oda Nobumasa (1554–1647)
Sisters:
Tokuhime (1559–1636)
Fuyuhime (1561–1641)
Hideko (died 1632)
Eihime (1574–1623)
Hōonin
Sannomarudono(died 1603)
Tsuruhime.