7 Tokugawa Ieyasu 7

some 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Kyōto, and Ieyasu

was victorious.

This triumph left Ieyasu the undisputed master of

Japan, and he moved swiftly to make his mastery perma-

nent. He confiscated his enemies’ lands and gave them

new domains away from Japan’s heartland, much of which

became Tokugawa property. He placed a number of his

allies in strategic locations near surviving enemies, and

secured for himself and his most faithful vassals direct

control of much of central Japan.

In 1603 the powerless but prestigious imperial court

appointed him shogun (generalissimo), thereby acknowl-

edging that this most powerful daimyo in Japan was the

man officially authorized to keep the peace in the emper-

or’s name. Two years later Ieyasu formally retired and had

the shogunal title assigned to his son Hidetada, intending

thereby to assure that the title was recognized as a heredi-

tary Tokugawa prerogative.

Ieyasu’s daimyo transfers and political reforms of the

years after Sekigahara had greatly strengthened his posi-

tion, but he remained wary of the daimyo. From 1604 until

1614 he had Hidetada keep them at work building and

enlarging the castle at Edo, which became the largest in

the world at the time. Thousands of ships and tens of

thousands of men were employed for years on end hauling

huge stones and great logs from distant points to Edo.

By the time of his death, Ieyasu had brought enduring

preeminence to his own family and a lasting peace to Japan.

Oliver Cromwell

(b. April 25, 1599, Huntingdon, Huntingdonshire, Eng.—d. Sept. 3,

1658, London)

E

nglish soldier and statesman Oliver Cromwell led par-

liamentary forces in the English Civil Wars and served