Shibata Katsuie

Myōtoku-ji (birthplace of Shibata Katsuie at Meitō-ku, Nagoya)

Katsuie was born in the village of Kamiyashiro (present-day Meitō-ku, Nagoya), a branch of the Shiba clan (who descended from the Ashikaga clan, and were the former suzerains of the Oda clan). Note the differences between Shibata (柴田), Shiba (斯波), and the Shibata clan of Echigo (新発田).

Katsuie was the retainer of Oda Nobuyuki. In 1554, Katsuie took part in the Battle of Kiyosu Castle against Oda Nobutomo, uncle of Nobunaga.

In 1556, when control of the Oda clan was contested, Katsuie initially supported his lord, Nobuyuki, against his elder brother Oda Nobunaga. Katsuie launched a coup d'état against Nobunaga. He was defeated at the Battle of Inō, and in the aftermath Nobunaga had his brother executed, but impressed with the retainer's loyalty and bravery, spared the life of Katsuie. Katsuie pledged his services to Nobunaga, earning his praises.

Shibata Katsuie utamarol

In 1560, he was commander of Nobunaga's main forces against Imagawa Yoshimoto at the Battle of Okehazama.

In 1567, he led the first division of Oda Nobunaga's forces, in the siege of Inabayama against Saito clan.

In late 1568, Katsuie, along with Hosokawa Fujitaka, Hachiya Yoritaka, Mori Yoshinari and Sakai Masahisa attacked Iwanari Tomomichi at Shōryūji Castle.

In 1570, while the Oda–Tokugawa coalition fought at the Battle of Anegawa against the Asakura and Azai clans, Katsuie was at Chōkō-ji castle, under siege by 4,000 soldiers of the Rokkaku clan. Katsuie eventually won via an all-out attack, forcing the Rokkaku to retreat.[1]^: 220 This action, along with a series of brilliant victories, gained him renown as the "Oni Shibata", or "Demon Shibata".

In 1571, he fought in the first Siege of Nagashima and was severely wounded.

In 1573, when Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki, who was protected by the Mori clan, built an anti-Nobunaga network, Katsuie fought against Yoshiaki's forces in various places including Omi Province and Settsu Province as a powerful military commander of the Oda army. Later, He took part in the Siege of Ichijodani Castle and also in the Second Siege of Nagashima right after that, but he pulled back again.

In 1574, he took part in the third Siege of Nagashima. He commanded the right wing among the three groups along with Sakuma Nobumori.

In 1575, he fought in the Battle of Nagashino against Takeda Katsuyori.[2] He and Hashiba Hideyoshi protected the left flank.

In 1576, after gaining control of Echizen, he took command of Kitanosho Castle (Hokujō) and was ordered to conquer the Hokuriku region.

In 1577, Nobunaga sent an army led by Shibata Katsuie and some of his most experienced generals to reinforce Shigetsura from Noto province against Uesugi Kenshin at the Battle of Tedorigawa.

In 1580, he led an army, which included his general Sakuma Morimasa in a fight against the Kaga Ikko-ikki at Kanazawa Gobo.[1]^: 230

In 1581, after controlling Noto, he began a campaign against Etchū Province along with Maeda Toshiie, Sassa Narimasa and Fuwa Mitsuharu.

In 1582, he and Sassa Narimasa successfully laid siege to Uozu and Matsukura Castle.[1]^: 231 In the meantime, Nobunaga was betrayed and killed at Honnō-ji by Akechi Mitsuhide.

Later in 1582, after the death of Nobunaga, in a meeting at Kiyosu Castle to determine Nobunaga's successor, Katsuie initially supported the choice of Samboshi, Nobunaga's grandson.[3] but he later supported Oda Nobutaka, Nobunaga's third son, for whom Katsuie had performed the genpuku ritual. He then allied with Oda Nobutaka and Takigawa Kazumasu against Toyotomi Hideyoshi who was allied with Oda Nobukatsu. Tension quickly escalated between Hideyoshi and Katsuie, and the following year they clashed at the Battle of Shizugatake.[4]

Battle of Shizugatake

Main article: Battle of Shizugatake

In 1583, Katsuie sent his nephew Sakuma Morimasa to besiege Takayama Ukon and Nakagawa Kiyohide at Shizugatake. Morimasa ignored Shibata's orders to withdraw to Ōiwa and was captured and beheaded by Toyotomi Hideyoshi's returning forces.[5] Katsuie was defeated and retreated back into Echizen, all the way to Kitanosho Castle, which was taken in 3 days.

During the siege, Katsuie implored his wife, Oichi, to take their daughters and leave, but she decided to stay and die with him, while letting their daughters escape. After setting fire to his castle, Katsuie committed seppuku.[6][7][1]^: 234

His death poem was:

夏の夜の　夢路儚き　後の名を　雲井にあげよ　山不如

Natsu no yo no

yumeji hakanaki

ato no na o

kumoi ni ageyo

yamahototogisu

"Fleeting dream paths, In the summer night! O bird of the mountain, Carry my name beyond the clouds."

Grave of Shibata Katsuie

• Wife: Oichi (1547-1583)
• Step-daughters:
  • Yodo-dono (1569-1615)
  • Ohatsu (1570-1633)
  • Oeyo (1573-1626)
• Adopted sons:
  • Shibata Katsutoyo
  • Shibata Katsumasa

Shibata Katsuie is a playable character in Koei Tecmo's Samurai Warriors 2: Empires and all subsequent Samurai Warriors, the Warriors Orochi games, and Sengoku Basara 4. He appears in Nioh 2 and Fate/Grand Order as a side character.

• People of the Sengoku period in popular culture § Shibata Katsuie
• The Kiyosu Conference (2013 film)

http://www.samurai-archives.com/katsuie.html Archived 2007-07-16 at the Wayback Machine

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shibata Katsuie.

• Shibata family history on Harimaya.com
• Shibata genealogy

This article incorporates text from OpenHistory.