Masanobu Hotta

Japanese: 堀田正信 - ほった・まさのぶ

Year of death: May 20, 8th year of Enpo (June 16, 1680)
Year of birth: 1631
Lord of Sakura Domain in Shimousa in the early Edo period. Kozuke no Suke. The eldest son of Hotta Masamori, a close attendant to the third shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu. His mother was the daughter of the senior councilor Sakai Tadakatsu. In 1651 (Keian 4), he took over from his father, who had committed suicide to follow Iemitsu, and was granted 100,000 koku of land in Sakura. He then actively expanded his vassals and planned to strengthen his military equipment, while flaunting his service to the shogunate. He was reprimanded by his maternal grandfather, Sakai Tadakatsu. He attempted to harshly increase the annual tax on his domain, which gave rise to the legend of the "Sakura Sogoro" incident. He succeeded his father, a meritorious vassal of Iemitsu's government, and was in the castle where he should have been the lord of the castle, but his frustration at not being able to participate in the shogunate's administration and his excessive self-consciousness appear to have manifested in the anachronistic, military-oriented administration of the domain. In 1660, he submitted a letter of remonstration to the Shogun's assistant Hoshina Masayuki and senior councilor Abe Tadaaki, criticizing the Shogunate's mismanagement and requesting that he return his own land to help the impoverished hatamoto, and then returned to his home country without permission. He was stripped of his title and placed in custody of the Shinano Iida Domain. In 1672, he was transferred to the Echizen Obama Domain, but in 1677, he secretly went to Kyoto to pray at Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine and other places for the birth of a successor to Shogun Ietsuna. He was reprimanded for his selfish actions and placed in custody of the Awa Tokushima Domain, where he was kept under strict surveillance. Upon hearing the news of Ietsuna's death in 1675, he committed suicide with scissors to join Ietsuna. Unable to adapt to the changing times, he was dissatisfied with the Shogunate's administration and led his family to ruin. <Works> "Excerpts from Loyal Warriors" "Excerpts from the Three Generations of Loyal Kusunoki" <References> "Miscellaneous Records of the Sakura Domain's Chronicles" (Chiba Prefecture Historical Materials, Early Modern Period), "Sakura City History" Volumes 1 and 2, "Narita City History," Medieval and Early Modern Period

(Negishi Shigeo)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：延宝8.5.20(1680.6.16)
生年：寛永8(1631)
江戸前期の下総佐倉藩主。上野介。3代将軍徳川家光の近習出頭人堀田正盛の長男。母は大老酒井忠勝の娘。慶安4(1651)年家光に殉死した父の跡を襲って佐倉10万石を領す。のち積極的な家臣団の拡大,武備の増強を企てながら,幕府への奉公を誇示。外祖父の酒井忠勝からたしなめられたという。所領では「佐倉惣五郎」事件の伝承を生んだ苛酷な年貢増徴を図る。家光政権の功臣であった父の跡を継ぎ,老中が城主となるべき城にいながら,幕政に参画できない焦燥と過剰な自意識が,時代錯誤の武断的な藩政として現れた様子。万治3(1660)年将軍補佐保科正之,老中阿部忠秋に諫書を提出,幕閣の失政を非難し,自身の所領を返上して困窮の旗本を救済するよう願い,無断で帰国。改易され信濃飯田藩に預けられる。寛文12(1672)年越前小浜藩に身柄を移されるが,延宝5(1677)年密かに上洛して石清水八幡宮などに,将軍家綱の継嗣誕生を祈願したため,勝手な行動を咎められ,阿波徳島藩に預けられ,厳重に監視される。8年家綱死去の報に接し,鋏で自害し家綱に殉じた。時代の推移に対応できず,幕政に不満を持ち,家を破滅に導いた大名。<著作>『忠義士抜書』『楠三代忠義抜書』<参考文献>「佐倉藩紀氏雑録」(『千葉県史料』近世編),『佐倉市史』1・2巻,『成田市史』中世近世編

(根岸茂夫)

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