September 29, 1571 · Ōmi–Yamashiro border Theater
September 29, 1571
The Enryaku-ji temple complex on Mount Hiei had sheltered Nobunaga's Azai-Asakura enemies and maintained its own armed monks and fortified halls for centuries, treated by every previous power in Kyoto as untouchable. Nobunaga surrounded the mountain, and on a single day his troops burned every building on it — thousands of years of temples, libraries, and treasures — and killed everyone they found: monks, women, children, and the refugees who had fled there for sanctuary.
Commanders