Matsudaira Nobuyoshi (松平信吉)
Nobuyoshi MATSUDAIRA (1580 - August 28, 1620) was a person in the Azuchi-Momoyama period and the early Edo period. He was the head of the Fujii Matsudaira family and the second descendant of the main branch of the family. The Tsuchiura Domain of Hitachi Province, the Takasaki Domain of Kozuke Province and the Sasayama Domain of Tanba Province. His childhood name was Manchiyo and later, Kanshiro. It is estimated that the year of his birth was 1575, but around this time, his real mother, Takehime was a lawful wife of Tadamasa SAKURAI MATSUDAIRA (the real elder brother of his father, Tadayoshi). So, there is contradiction in this assumption.
Genealogy
His real father was Tadayoshi MATSUDAIRA of the Sakurai Matsudaira clan. His mother was Takehime, who was a daughter of Toshikatsu HISAMATSU and a half younger sister with the same mother of Ieyasu TOKUGAWA. He was the first son of Tadayoshi.
His foster father was Nobukazu FUJII-MATSUDAIRA and his lawful wife was a daughter of Nobukazu (adopted daughter and a real daughter of Sadakichi ABE). His second wife was a daughter of Hidetsugu YOTSUTSUJI.
His children included Tadakuni MATSUDAIRA (the fist son, and the lord of Akashi Domain in Harima Province), Tadaharu MATSUDAIRA (the second son), Tadaaki MATSUDAIRA (the third son), Nobuharu MATSUDAIRA (the forth son), Sueharu MATSUDAIRA (the fifth son) and a daughter (a lawful wife of Toshisue Akita).
Tadayori MATSUDAIRA was his brother who succeeded to the Sakurai Matsudaira clan.
The family line of the first son, Tadakuni inherited Yamashiro no kuni no kami (Governor of Yamashiro Province) and the family line of the second son, Tadaharu inherited Iga no kuni no kami (Governor of Iga Province). Therefore, the Fujii-Matsudaira clan was divided into two branches. The family line of Iga no kami produced a lot of roju (senior councillor of the Tokugawa shogunate).
Biography
His real father, Tadayoshi was the head of the Sakura Matsudaira clan, but he became a temporary head after Tadayoshi's real elder brother and the former head, Tadamasa died and had been in that position until Iehiro, the son of Tadamasa, turned twenty (the real mother of Iehiro was alsoTakihime, so, Iehiro and Nobuyoshi were half brothers with the same mother). And then, his father died in 1582. Additionally, later, his mother remarried Masanao HOSHINA, so he spent an unhappy boyhood. However, Nobukazu MATSUDAIRA of the Fujii-Matsudaira family which was the same family line as the Matsudaira clan had no child, so Nobuyoshi, who was a nephew of the lord, Ieysu TOKUGAWA was adopted into the Fujii-Matsudaira family.
After the Battle of Sekigahara in 1601, his foster father, Nobukazu received Tsuchiura Castle of forty thousands Goku crop yields which was the branch castle of Echizen Province, when Hideyasu YUKI was transferred to Echizen Province. In the following year, Morishige ASHINA of the Edosaki Domain was transferred to Kakunodate Castle in Dewa Province, because he was implicated in a plot conceived by his parental home, the Satake clan. Therefore, Nobuyoshi dealt with the aftermath of the Edosaki Domain as a representative of his foster father. In 1603, he became Awano kuni no kami (Governor of Awa Province). In this year, his foster father retired and the next year, his succession to the family was approved and he became the lord of Tsuchiura Domain.
He kept his territory in good condition refurbishing Tsuchiura Castle, pulling Mito-Kiado Road into the castle town. He also joined Osaka no jin (the Siege of Osaka) twice with his legitimate son, Tadakuni. However, in August, 1617, he was transferred to Takasaki Castle with fifty thousand Goku, and two years later, in October 1619, he was transferred to Shinoyama Castle and became Izu no kami (Governor of Izu Province). With these several transfers, Nobuyoshi, who had a weak constitution, became ill and died in his residence in Kyoto in the next year of being transferred to Shinoyama. His Kaimyo (posthumous Buddhist names) was Koshoinden unyodansosawa daizenjomon. His grave was in Senbon Shonen-ji Temple in Kyoto.