temporal rulers ever since the ninth century. In his war with the lord of Echizen, he found these sacerdotal warriors on the side of his enemy. As soon as Echizen was reduced, Nobunaga, disregarding the remonstrance of his vassals, destroyed several of the temples, putting the priests to death as well as the women and children who lived with them, confiscating their lands, and bestowing them on his vassal Akechi Mitsuhide. Thus fell the contumacious and powerful priests who, relying on the authority of their religion, had treated even imperial mandates with contempt. Nothing remained of them but a few of their temples and the doctrines they had taught. Kosa, however, the lord abbot of Hongwan-ji, fled from one place to another and gathered a body of strong supporters wherever he went, and it was not till eleven years later that the priestly opposition was completely reduced. Meanwhile, the Shōgun Yoshiaki grew jealous of the immense power which Nobunaga was acquiring, and in spite of the latter's repeated effort to convince him of his loyalty, at length in 1573 raised an army to destroy Nobunaga. The campaign, however, ended in the defeat of the shōgun. He escaped to the province of Kawachi, and the supremacy of the Ashikaga family came to an end. In 1576 Nobunaga built a castle of unprecedented strength at Adsuchi in Ōmi. The keep was a hundred feet in height. It stood within seven stone walls of circumvallation, with moats constructed of large masses of granite. Having thus fixed his headquarters in Adsuchi, Oda Nobunaga set about subduing those eastern provinces which still remained independent, and also all of the western provinces, where his influence was almost unknown. No sooner, however, had the former been reduced under his sway and the plans of campaign against the latter matured, than Nobunaga met an untimely death in 1582 at the hand of his vassal, Akechi Mitsuhide. With great strategic skill, Nobunaga had combined the faculty of discovering able men and winning their loyalty. Seldom had so large a number of great men been found under the control of a single ruler as under Nobunaga. Death prevented him from carrying out his design of subjugating Kiushū, as he had conquered the other districts of the empire. Toward the imperial court he had shown unvarying reverence. He had devoted considerable sums to renovating the shrines. He also had adopted effective measures for the repair of roads and bridges, and facilitated travel by abolishing military barriers. But his character was austere, and his administrative measures were strict and uncompromising. It was by the exercise of these traits that he provoked the anger of Mitsuhide, and thus unfortunately met an untimely end without achieving the great ambition of his life.