Difference between revisions of "Maeda clan"

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[[Image:Maeda_mon.jpg|left|thumb|The Maeda kamon.]]
 
[[Image:Maeda_mon.jpg|left|thumb|The Maeda kamon.]]
  
The Maeda of [[Owari province|Owari]] claimed [[Fujiwara clan|Fujiwara]] descent. They rose to prominince under [[Oda Nobunaga]] and then [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] and by [[1598]] were one of the most powerful families in Japan, controlling three of the provinces of the Hokuriku region, [[Kaga province]], [[Noto province]], and [[Etchu province]]. Their seat was [[Kanazawa]] in Kaga. Although they lost some of their wealth in the wake of the [[Sekigahara Campaign]], they remained powerful throughout the Edo Period.
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Japanese: 前田 ''(Maeda)''
  
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The origins of the Maeda clan is not known, though in Toshiie's time it was said they descended from [[Sugawara Michizane]], hence the plum-blossom family crest. However, historically they came from the village of Arako (now in Nagoya City) in [[Owari province]].
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Maeda Toshiie served [[Oda Nobunaga]], fighting under Nobunaga's general [[Shibata Katsuie]] in the [[Hokuriku]], and was given land in [[Echizen province]], then in [[Noto province]]. After surrendering to [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi|Hideyoshi]] in [[1583]] he was given land in [[Kaga province]] that included Kanazawa. Kanazawa was to the the seat of the clan for almost 300 years. In 1585 he was also given land in [[Etchu province|Etchû province]].
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Toshiie's son Toshinaga sided with [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] during the [[Battle of Sekigahara|Sekigahara]] campaign and received the areas of Kaga that he did not have already. Thus, during the [[Edo period]] the Maeda clan ruled the three provinces of Kaga, Noto, and Etchû, which meant that their koku-daka was over one million koku (百万石), the largest among the daimyo. When Maeda Toshitsune retired he established branch houses through two of his younger sons and created sub-fiefs for them--Daishôji 大聖寺 (70,000 koku) in Kaga and Toyama 富山 (100,000 koku) in Etchû. These fiefs continued thus until the [[Meiji Restoration]].
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The Maeda clan was a [[tozama]] clan, but it was considered close to the shogunate, and the head was entitled to use the name "Matsudaira," the name of Tokugawa branch families, ceremonially.
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
{{biodict}}
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*国史大辞典, 国史大辞典編集委員会/編                                              吉川弘文館  1988.<br>  Kokushi Daijiten (The Great Dictionary of National History), Kokushi Daijiten Editorial Committee. 
  
 
==Resources==
 
==Resources==

Revision as of 09:31, 10 August 2007

The Maeda kamon.

Japanese: 前田 (Maeda)

The origins of the Maeda clan is not known, though in Toshiie's time it was said they descended from Sugawara Michizane, hence the plum-blossom family crest. However, historically they came from the village of Arako (now in Nagoya City) in Owari province.

Maeda Toshiie served Oda Nobunaga, fighting under Nobunaga's general Shibata Katsuie in the Hokuriku, and was given land in Echizen province, then in Noto province. After surrendering to Hideyoshi in 1583 he was given land in Kaga province that included Kanazawa. Kanazawa was to the the seat of the clan for almost 300 years. In 1585 he was also given land in Etchû province.

Toshiie's son Toshinaga sided with Tokugawa Ieyasu during the Sekigahara campaign and received the areas of Kaga that he did not have already. Thus, during the Edo period the Maeda clan ruled the three provinces of Kaga, Noto, and Etchû, which meant that their koku-daka was over one million koku (百万石), the largest among the daimyo. When Maeda Toshitsune retired he established branch houses through two of his younger sons and created sub-fiefs for them--Daishôji 大聖寺 (70,000 koku) in Kaga and Toyama 富山 (100,000 koku) in Etchû. These fiefs continued thus until the Meiji Restoration.

The Maeda clan was a tozama clan, but it was considered close to the shogunate, and the head was entitled to use the name "Matsudaira," the name of Tokugawa branch families, ceremonially.

References

  • 国史大辞典, 国史大辞典編集委員会/編 吉川弘文館 1988.
    Kokushi Daijiten (The Great Dictionary of National History), Kokushi Daijiten Editorial Committee.

Resources

The following link has digital copies and partial transcriptions of several lists of samurai of the Maeda clan (加賀藩の侍帳) http://www.library.pref.ishikawa.jp/toshokan/dglib/samurai/