Alvin York (#72)

Background

Alvin Cullum York was born on December 13, 1887 was born in a log cabin in Pall Mall, Tennessee, the third of eleven children born to Mary Brooks and William York. William York worked as a farmer and a blacksmith, and the family collected its own wood and made their own clothing. Alvin York only attended school for nine months because his father wanted him to help run the farm and hunt game. In 1911, William York died, and because Alvin was he oldest sibling still in the country, he supported the family as a logger and as a railroad worker. During this time, he gained a reputation as an alcoholic and as a fighter. This continued until 1915, when he converted to Christianity. He joined the Church of Christ in Christian Union, which was opposed to all forms of violence.

World War I

Because of his religious views, York was worried when the United States entered World War I in 1917. York, like all other men between the ages of 21 and 31, was forced to sign up for the draft. On his draft form, there was a question that read "Do you claim exemption from draft?", and York responded by writing "Yes. Don't want to fight." His claim was denied. He was drafted into the United States Army and served in Company G, 328th Infantry Regiment, 82nd Infantry Division at Camp Gordon, Georgia. Other soldiers convinced York of the morality of the war, and York became convinced that God would keep him safe.

Medal of Honor

Under the command of Sergeant Bernard Early, Cpl. York and seventeen others went behind German lines to take out the machine guns. The group made their way to the German headquarters, capturing a large group of German soldiers, but while dealing with the prisoners, the group was showered with machine gun fire. Nine soldiers were killed, including Sergeant Early. This left York in charge of the remaining seven U.S. soldiers. He told his men to get undercover, then York worked his way to the German machine guns. The machine guns began open firing at York, who returned fire with his rifle. Even though there were over 30 Germans on duty around the machine guns, York picked them off, one by one. When six Germans charged him with bayonets, he drew his Colt automatic pistol and shot all the soldiers before they reached him. After emptying his pistol while trying to hit York, German First Lieutenant Paul Jurgen Vollmer offered to surrender the unit to York, who accepted. York and his seven men marched back to American lines with 132 German prisoners. York was honored with the American  Distinguished Service Cross, the Medal of Honor, the French Croix de Guerre and Legion of Honor, and the Italian Croce di Guerra al Merito.

The End

York's story was relatively unknown until 1919, when his story was published by George Patullo in the Saturday Evening Post, which made him an American hero. He died on September 2, 1964 of a cerebral hemorrhage. Over the course of his life, he received over fifty decorations. Alvin York is on our list because he has one of the most epic war stories of all time. He is a true hero of the battlefield.

Montezuma I (#78)

Background

Huehuemotecuhzoma, or Montezuma I, was born around the year 1398 BC in the Aztec Empire. He was to son of emperor Huitzilihuil, ruler of the Aztec people. The story goes that Montezuma's mother, Miahuaxihuitl, became pregnant after swallowing the jewel. Montezuma married his mother's niece, Chichimecacihuatzin. 

Conquerer

Montezuma came to the throne in 1440 after his brother, Itzcoatl, died. Starting where his brother left off, Montezuma solidified an alliance between Tenochtitlan, the Aztec home city, and two neighboring people groups from the cities of Texcoco and Tlacopan. This alliance, known as the Triple Alliance, stated that the three cities would fight together and that 4/5 of the land would be divided between Texcoco and Tenochtitlan and the remaining 1/5 would be given to Tlacopan. With this alliance, Montezuma began to expand the empire. When the Triple Alliance conquered the Huastec and Totonac people, the Aztecs gained access to the Gulf Coast. Though most defeated people groups were treated well and were allowed to keep their land, Montezuma could be harsh. In 1458, Montezuma led an attack on the city-state of Coixtlahuaca after several Aztec merchants were mistreated. After defeating Coixtlahuaca and the allies of the city, Montezuma killed the city's ruler and made his family slaves. Montezuma I provided one of the largest periods of expansion in the history of the Aztec Empire, earning him the title of 'Archer in the Sky' from his people.

Improvements

Under Montezuma I, the Aztec heartland contained about one million people. This included Tenochtitlan and nine provincial centers surrounding the capitol. In 1449, Lake Texcoco, which surrounded Tenochtitlan, flooded the city. That same year, weather damaged the crops and famine struck the Empire. Montezuma and Nezahualcoyotl, the ruler of Texcoco, led the construction of a dike to control water levels and reduce the salt content of the lake. By lowering salt levels, the lake could be used for farming. After ten years, the dike was finished, but Montezuma continued to make improvements. He built a three-mile-long aqueduct to help bring water to Tenochtitlan and also improved irrigation systems throughout the empire. Finally, Montezuma helped to set down rules of conduct. These rules spoke on everything from defining social classes, conduct in battle, and regular rules regarding criminal activity. This helped Montezuma to control his rapidly expanding empire.

The End

Montezuma died under unknown circumstances in the year 1469. Montezuma is in our book because he created one of the two great American Empires, the other being the Inca Empire under Huayna Capac. Montezuma helped to establish Aztec dominance in Mesoamerica and helped to bring stability to the Aztec empire through his improvements to the empire. Please not that this is NOT the Montezuma who was defeated by Hernan Cortes and was killed by his own people.

Leonidas I (#83)

Leonidas I

Background

Leonidas was born around the year 540 BC in Sparta. Leonidas was the second son of King Anaxandridas II's first wife. Leonidas had two brothers: Dorieus, the eldest son of Anaxandridas's first wife, and Cleomenes, the son of the king's second wife. Because he was not expected to be king, Leonidas went through the harsh Spartan public school system in order to qualify for citizenship.

Rise to Power

When King Anaxandridas II died in 520 BC, Cleomenes became king. Dorieus was outraged by the decision because Cleomenes was the youngest son and Dorieus, the eldest. Dorieus left Sparta and attempted to start a colony in Africa and later in Sicily. Though he found success in Italy, he was killed soon after the colony's foundation. Leonidas remained in Sparta, marrying Cleomenes's daughter, Gorgo, in 490 BC. During Cleomenes's reign, the Greek states were at war with Persia, but before the war ended, Cleomenes was accused of insanity and fled Sparta in 490 BC. Leonidas succeeded Cleomenes as king, and when Persia invaded Greece again in 481 BC, Leonidas was chosen to lead the combined Greek forces. 

Battle of Thermopylae

In August of 480 BC, Leonidas marched to Thermopylae with 300 Spartans. The other city-states of Greece sent additional troops, forming an army of about 14,000. There is some dispute over the reason for sending so few into battle, but most agree that it was because of the Olympic Games being held at the same time. Xerxes I, ruler of Persia, attacked the Greek army after five days of waiting. Leonidas and his men were able to hold of the Persians for the first two days, killing approximately 20,000 Persians while losing only 2,500 Greek soldiers. In the process, two of Xerces' brothers were killed. 

The End

On the seventh day of the Battle of Thermopylae, Ephialtes, a Greek traitor, led a group of Persians through a mountain pass to attack the Greeks from behind, When Leonidas found out, he sent away the entire Greek Army other than his 300 Spartans to keep them from being killed in the battle. 900 Helots and 700 Thespians, though, refused to leave Leonidas's side. Attacked from both the front and the back, Leonidas  and his men held their post, but all were killed, though Spartans were able to recover Leonidas's body before the Persians could. Leonidas is on our list because he was both a tragic hero of the Ancient world, he also had a famous movie made about him.

Bartholomew Diaz(#84)

Bartholomew Diaz

Background

Bartolomeu Dias, or Bartholomew Diaz, was born around the year 1451,the son of a Portuguese nobleman. Very little is known about Dias's life, but as an adult, he became a Knight of the royal court, the superintendent of the royal warehouses, and the captain of the ship, Sao Cristovao. Dias was married and had two children: Simao and Antonia Dias.

Sailing

After Marco Polo came back from the East, Europeans started looking for ways to travel to the East without travelling through any Islamic kingdoms. Europeans wanted to find both spices and precious metals. Also, they wanted to find Prester John. Prester John was a supposed Christian ruler of the East who would serve as a powerful ally against the Muslim nations, something that Europeans desperately needed during the Crusades. On October 10, 1487, Bartholomew Diaz was appointed by King John II of Portugal to sail around the southern tip of Africa, which had not yet been discovered by Europeans, and to search for Prester John. Diaz sailed out of Lisbon that same year, hugging the African coast the entire way down. As he sailed, Diaz completely missed the southern tip of Africa, so he decided to go straight on to India. Diaz, unfortunately, was forced to turn back after his crew refused to go any further. On his way back, Diaz landed at the tip of Africa, naming it the Cape of Storms. King John II later named it the Cape of Good Hope. Diaz later helped in the construction of Sao Gabriel and Sao Rafael, the two ships that held Vasco da Gama, the first European to sail all the way to Asia. Bartholomew also sailed with da Gama on the first leg of his voyage to India, though he did not travel the entire way.

The End

Bartholomew Diaz sailed with Pedro Alvares Cabral on the expedition which discovered Brazil. After the ships turned around and sailed to India via the Cape of Good Hope. On May 29, 1500, at the Cape, a violent storm hit the ships, wrecking Diaz's ship, probably killing him in the process. Diaz is on our list because he discovered that Africa actually had a southern tip. His maps provided the basis for the expeditions led by Vasco da Gama and Pedro Cabral.

Pepin the Short (#86)

Pepin the Short

Rise to Power

Pepin the Younger was born in the year 714 in what is now France. He was the son of Charles Martel, the Mayor of the Palace. As Mayor of the Palace, Martel ruled Francia (the kingdom of the Franks), but served the Merovingian kings. When Martel died in 741, he divided his seat as Mayor into two parts. Carloman, Martel's eldest son, became the Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia, or Eastern Francia. Pepin was crowned as the Mayor of the Palace of Neustria, or Western Francia. Grifo, Pepin and Carloman's half-brother, did not inherit a position, so he demanded that he got a piece of land from his two half-brothers. Pepin and Carloman refused and imprisoned Grifo in a monastery. In 743, Carloman and Pepin officially acknowledged the king, Childeric III, as the king of Francia, but for an unknown reason, Carloman retired as Mayor four years later to become a monk. This left Pepin as the Mayor of the Palace for all of Francia. In 747, the same year that Carloman retired, Grifo escaped his prison and started a revolt against Pepin, which was completely destroyed by 753, when Grifo was killed in battle..

Becoming King

In 752, Pepin asked the Pope to depose of Childeric III, the king of Francia. Childeric was king, though he had no power. All the power rested with Pepin, the Mayor of the Palace. Pope Zachary, needing help to fight against the Lombards, agreed to Pepin's request, and Childeric was deposed. Pepin became the new king of Francia, starting the Carolingian dynasty. In 752, the archbishop of Mainz anointed Pepin, but in 754, Pope Stephen, Pope Zachary's successor, personally went to Paris to anoint Pepin as king. Along with anointing Pepin as the King of Francia, Stephen also gave Pepin the title of patricius Romanorum, or Patrician of Rome. 

Expansion

In return for anointing him, Pepin helped Stephen to fight of the Lombards. When Pepin defeated them, he forced the Lombard king Aistulf to return the land belonging to the Church. Pepin also expanded Francia, attacking Septimania, a region in southern France, taking it over by 759. When Waifer, the duke of Aquitaine, seized church lands in760, Pepin went to war with Aquitaine as well. This was the harshest war under Pepin's rule and Pepin had to burn everything in his path to inspire fear in Waifer. By 768, a pro-Frankish treaty was accepted by the Aquitanian nobles. 

The End

Pepin died in 768 at the age of 54. Pepin was interred in the church of Saint Denis. Pepin is in our book because he is almost always forgotten. His father, Charles Martel, and his son, Charlemagne, both earned more fame than Pepin even though it was Pepin that acquired the Frankish throne for the Carolingian dynasty. He also has the best description ever: The Short. Anybody who is called "The Short" is automatically awesome.

Aruj (#87)

Background

Oruç, or Aruj, was born around 1474 on Lesbos to the Turkish Sipahi, Yakup Aga. After helping the Ottomans conquer Lesbos from the Genoese, Yakup Aga settled down on Lesbos, where he met and married Katerina, with whom he had four sons: Ishak, Aruj, Hizir, and Ilyas. When he moved to Lesbos, Yakup bought a ship to become a merchant. All four of his sons, including Aruj, helped their father with his trade.

Early Career

 The four brothers all became seamen, trading throughout the Mediterranean, but mainly within the Levant, the oceans between Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and Egypt. During his career as a merchant, Aruj learned how to speak Italian, Spanish, French, Greek, and Arabic, but later Aruj, Hizir, and Ilyas became privateers to counteract the power of the Knights of St. John, privateers from the island of Rhodes. While on their way back from a trading expedition,  Ilyas and Aruj were attacked by the Knights of St. John. Ilyas was killed and Aruj was imprisoned for almost three years. Aruj's brother Hizir tracked down Aruj and helped him to escape.

Corsair

On a trip to the Ottoman city of Antalya, the governor of Antalya, Ottoman prince Shehzade Korkud, gave Aruj 18 galleys to fight the Knights of St. John because the Knights were damaging the Ottoman ocean trade network. When Shehzade Korkud became the governor of Manisa, he increased Aruj's fleet size to include 24 galleys. Aruj also helped when Korkud was sending a naval expedition to Italy. Aruj bombarded several coastal cities and captured two ships while there. He also captured four more ships on his way back to see Korkud. Korkud, though, had fled to Egypt after a dispute of succession to the Ottoman throne. Aruj went to Egypt, and with the help of Korkud, gained an audience with the Mamluk Sultan, Qansuh al-Ghawri. The Sultan gave Aruj another ship and charged him with raiding the coasts of Italy and any other Christian powers within the Mediterranean. In 1503, Aruj did as told and moved west from Egypt towards Sicily. He captured three more ships before making a base on the island of Djerba, which is off the coast of Tunisia. Aruj's brother Hizir sooned joined Aruj at Djerba, though a year later, they requested that Tunisian Sultan Abu Abdullah Mohammed Hamis allow them to use the port of La Goulette for their operations. The Sultan agreed as long as Aruj and Hizir gave one third of their booty to him. Aruj and Hizir gained more power within the Mediterranean, capturing the Cavalleria, which had 380 Spanish soldier and 60 knights on board. They also raided th coast of Calabria. These accomplishments gained the two brothers more fame, and their fleet was soon merged with those of other Muslim privateers. In 1509, Aruj's older brother Ishak joined him as well. As Aruj's fame grew, he earned the name Baba Oruç (Father Aruj), or Barbossa to the Europeans. In 1512, Aruj lost his left arm in a battle with a Spanish ruler, which Aruj soon replaced with a silver prosthetic. The three brothers continued to raid the coasts of Italy, France, and Spain, gaining more power as they did. In 1514, the brothers attacked the city of Bougie with 1,000 men. After they took the city, they moved on, taking Jijel and Mahdiya as well. In 1516, the brothers laid seige to the Castle of Elba with the help of privateer Kurtoglu.

Sultan

In 1516, the brothers took control of the area surrounding Jijel and Algiers. When Emperor Charles V, King of Spain, failed to help the Spaniards of Algiers, Aruj declared himself as the new Sultan of Algiers. With his new power, Aruj took Miliana, Medea, and Tenes. To protect Algiers from falling into Spanish hands, Aruj relinquished his title to the Ottomans in 1517. Aruj was appointed as Bey, or governor, of Algiers, an Beylerbey, or chief governor, of the West Mediterranean.

The End

On orders from Spain, Abu Zayan, ruler of the city of Tlemcen, planned to attack Aruj, but Aruj found out about the plan and took Tlemcen in a surprise atttack in 1517. When Aruj had Abu Zayan executed, Emperor Charles V came to take care of Aruj himself. With 10,000 Spanish soldiers and thousands of Bedouins, Charles marched on Tlemcen in 1518. Aruj and Ishak defended the city with their force of 1,500 Turks and 5,000 Moors, but it was not enough. Though the two brothers held off the Spanish for twenty days, they were eventually killed in battle. Hizir, the last surviving brother of Aruj, inheritted Aruj's title of Beylerbey and continued to attack ships throughout the Mediterranean. Aruj is on our list because nobody ever hears about the pirates of the Mediterranean. Also, Aruj is one of the few pirates so powerful that he became a Sultan himself. Aruj, while he was alive, was one of the most power and famous people in the Mediterranean.

William Wallace (#96)

Background 

Sir William Wallace was born around the year AD 1272 as a minor member of the Scottish nobility. In 1286, King Alexander III of Scotland died after falling off his horse. Margaret, Maid of Norway, was the heir to the throne, but she became sick while on the voyage from Norway and died in Orkney. The lack of an heir led to "the Great Cause", a period of time in which several families claimed to be heir to the throne. With the threat of civil war, the Scottish nobility invited King Edward of England to arbitrate, though he insisted on being called Lord Paramount of Scotland. In November of 1292, John Balliol as found to have the strongest claim to the throne. King Edward reversed the rulings and summoned King John Balliol to stand before the English court as a common plaintiff. When Balliol refused, Edward stormed Berwick-upon-Tweed, a Scottish border town, defeating the Scots at the Battle of Dunbar in 1296. Edward forced Balliol to abdicate and instructed the almost 2,000 Scottish nobles to pay homage to the King of England. This attack by Edward began the First War of Scottish Independence.

Uprising and War

Wallace's first known act of revolt was in 1297, when he assassinated William de Heselrig, an English Sheriff. With the help of William the Hardy, Wallace raided Scone as well. Uprisings had taken place throughout Scotland, but most nobles were forced to submit at Irvine in July of 1297. Wallace and the noble, Andrew Moray, continued to rebel, joining forces in September of 1297 around the time of the siege of Dundee. Wallace and Moray, to put the odds in their favor, abandoned the ideas of chivalric warfare, strength in arms, and knightly combat. Instead, they used opportunistic tactics and strategic use of terrain. Moray and Wallace's first major victory was at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in September of 1297. In this battle, an English army, under the command of John de Warenne, tried to cross to the northern side of the Stirling bridge. The Scottish, waiting on the other side, were easily able to defend the northern side of the bridge from the English infantry. When the cavalry was sent in to aid the infantry, it was unable to get across the bridge due to all the retreating infantry men. When the battle was won,Moray and Wallace took the title of Guardians of the Kingdom of Scotland on behalf of King John Balliol, though Moray died later in 1297. The English attempted to draw Wallace out in the open by invading Edinburgh as well as several strategic castles. Wallace, using hit and run and scorched earth tactics, continued to elude the English until April of 1298 at the Battle of Falkirk. Wallace arranged his men into schiltrons, where they used spears, sharpened stakes,and shields to create a protective shell around them, but Welsh long bowman broke these schiltrons and English cavalry was able to break up groups of Scottish archers. The Scottish had a devastating defeat at the Battle of Falkrik, and even though Wallace survived, he gave up the title of Guardian of Scotland to Robert the Bruce and John Comyn of Badenoch. Wallace continued to play an essential role in the war, attempting to get support from King Philip IV of France as well as from Rome and Norway. 

The End

Wallace as able to elude the English until August of 1305, when John de Menteith, a Scottish knight loyal to Edward, turned Wallace over the English soldiers. Wallace was brought to London, where he was tired for treason. Wallace, in response to the charges, said, "I could not be a traitor to Edward, for I was never his subject," implying that John Balliol was still Wallace's king. On August 1305, Wallace was stripped naked, dragged through London by a horse, then was hanged, drawn and quartered, and beheaded. His head as put on a pike on London Bridge. In 1328, the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton was signed, which ended the First Scottish War for Independence, established Scotland as a fully independent nation, and put Robert the Bruce on the throne of Scotland. William Wallace is on our list of important people because he was the victor, but not the victor. Like Joan of Arc, Wallace did not get to see the fruit of his labor and was even killed for his cause, but he stood up for his cause when nobody else could and played an essential role in the War of Scottish Independence.

Joan of Arc (#97)

Background

Joan of Arc was born in eastern France to a small French family in AD 1412. She was born in the height of the Hundred Years' War. The Hundred Years' War was a war mainly between England and France. Burgundy had sided with the British in the war, and together, England and Burgundy had taken over about half of France. At the time, the city of Orleans was the only thing   that was keeping England from invading the French heartland. Charles VII, the future king of France, known as Dauphin, was destined for the throne, and was to be crowned in Reims, but Reims was currently controlled by the English. In 1424, when Joan was about 12 years old, she said she saw visions of Saint Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret, who told her to drive out the English and bring Dauphin to Reims. 

Saving France

When she was 16, Joan through a series of personal connections, was able to get a private conference with Dauphin, predicting a military reversal during the Siege of Orleans. When her prediction came true, Dauphin sent her with reinforcements to Orleans, where Joan traveled with the army, dressed as a knight. After a background check to see if Joan of Arc was not a sorceress or whatnot, Dauphin tested her by sending her out into the thick of the Siege of Orleans. Though she was excluded from the war councils, Joan of Arc engaged the enemy in battle and is said to have worked during the Siege as a tactician and strategist. Soon, Orleans was free from the English siege, and Joan led troops upwards, capturing three fortresses in four days, taking an arrow wound to the neck in the process. This sudden victory led Dauphin to give Joan co-command of the army with Duke John II of Alencon. Joan made a series of victories, heading in a general direction towards Paris. The English put reinforcements in Paris to stop an attack, but instead, Joan attacked Reims, capturing it on June 29, 1429. Her series of victories had won her favor with much of the nobility, and her success in bringing Dauphin to his coronation in Reims led to Dauphin granting nobility to Joan's family.

The End

In May of 1430, Joan was helping out at a Burgundian siege of the French city of Compiegne. While her forces were attacking a Burgundian camp, she was captured and sold to the English. The English brought Joan to Rouen, the center of the English occupation government, where she was tried for heresy. She was found guilty of the charges, though some court functionaries later testified that the transcripts of the trial were altered in her disfavor and that several clerics at the trial were forced to serve, some even receiving death threats from the English. She was executed by burning on May 30, 1431. The Hundred Years' war came to an end in 1453, and in 1452, a nullification trial was authorized by Pope Callixtus to see if Joan was truly guilty of heresy. In 1456, she was declared innocent. Later, in 1920, she was canonized by Pope Benedict XV. Joan of Arc is on our list because she was one of the first women to lead a country militarily and is also one of the most famous religious and war heroes of Europe and the world.

Tokugawa Ieyasu (#104)

Childhood

Matsudaira Takechiyo was born on January 31, 1543 in Okazaki Castle in Japan. Takechiyo was the son of Matsudaira Hirotada, the daimyo, or territorial ruler, of the Matsudaira clan. Takechiyo's mother was the daughter of Mizuno Tadamasa, a samurai lord. Takechiyo's mother and father later split, and Takechiyo lived with his father. The Matsudaira family split over whether to become a vassal of the Imagawa or Oda clan. Hirotada chose to side with the Imagawa clan, but in 1548, the Oda clan invaded Mikawa, and Hirotada asked the Imagawa clan for help. To get help, Hirotada agreed to send Takechiyo to Imagawa Yoshimoto, the leader of the Imagawa clan, but Oda Nobuhide, the leader of the Oda clan, learned of the agreement and kidnapped Takechiyo when he was only six. Nobuhide threatened to kill Takechiyo if Hirotada remained with the Imagawa clan, but Hirotada left his son in the hands of the Oda Clan. Nobuhide didn't kill Takechiyo and held him in Nagoya for three years instead. In 1549, both Hirotada and Nobuhide died of natural causes. With Oda Nobuhide dead, the Oda clan was weakened, and Imagawa Sessai, the military leader of the Imagawa clan, lay siege to the castle of Oda Nobuhiro, Nobuhide's son. Sessai offered to give up the siege if Nobuhiro handed over Takechiyo to the Imagawa clan.

Daimyo

When Takechiyo came of age in 1556, he changed his name to Matsudaira Jirosaburo Motonobu, and when he married his first wife a year later, he changed his name to Matsudaira Kurandonosuke Motoyasu. When Motoyasu was returned to Mikawa, the Imagawa ordered him to fight the Oda. In 1560, the Oda clan, led by Oda Nobunaga, defeated the Imagawa at the Battle of Okehazama and killed Yoshitomo. Now Motoyasu (or Takechiyo) decided to ally with the Oda clan. Motoyasu improved the state of the Matsudaira clan and also captured much of Mikawa. In 1567, Motoyasu changed his name (again) to Tokugawa Ieyasu, claiming descent from the Minamoto clan. Ieyasu led a campaign with the Oda, conquering much of Jaan, including Kyoto in 1568. When Oda Nobunga was assassinated by Akechi Mitsuhide, Ieyasu defeated and killed Mitsuhide at the Battle of Yamazaki. Now, in the Matsudaira area, only the Tokugawa and the Hojo clans remained. The other major clan in Japan at the time was the Toyotomi clan, led by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In 1584, the Oda and Tokogawa clans went to war with Hideyoshi, and though the Toyotomi clan was strong, there was no clear winner and peace had to be settled through negotiations. Hideyoshi and Ieyasu, the two most powerful daiymos, then joined forces, administrating from the same city and fighting the Hojo clan together. The two did, however, rule independently, and fought certain wars alone, including the Toyotomi campaign in Korea. When Hideyoshi died, Toyotomi Hideyori took over, and Ieyasu began to make alliances with anti-Toyotomi clans, and eventually, he attacked Osaka castle, Hideyori's residence. Ishida Mitsunari, the most powerful of Hideyori's allies, became the center of the conflict, and most of the daiymos of Japan took one side or the other. On October 21, 1600, Mitsunari, Hideyori, and Ieyasu met in at the Battle of Sekigahara. With the Tokugawa victory, the Toyotomi clan was defeated and Ieyasu became the leader of all of Japan.

Shogunate and Retirement

In 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu received the title of shogun from Emperor Go-Yozei. This meant that Ieyasu was now the military leader of Japan. When Ieyasu recieved this title, he began the Edo period under which the Tokugawa shogunate would be in power. When Ieyasu had established the Tokugawa shogunate's power, Ieyasu abdicated, and Ieyasu's son, Tokugawa Hidetada, became shogun in 1605. Now retired, Ieyasu became known as Ogosho Ieyasu, and he still remained powerful after his retirement. He became an ambassador, supervising diplomatic meetings with the Netherlands, Spain, and the Roman Catholic Church. Ieyasu also wrote the Buke Shohatto to establish the future of the shogunate. Ieyasu also was still active militarily, leading the Siege of Osaka, to take the rest of the land owned by Toyotomi Hideyori, who survived the Battle of Sekigahara. 

The End

Ieyasu died in 1616, at the age of 73, probably of cancer or syphilis. After his death, Ieyasu was given the name Tosho Daigongen, or the 'Great Gongen, Light of  the East.' Tokugawa Ieyasu is on our list because he was the man who unified all of Japan and started the most powerful shogunate in Japanese history. He is also on our list because he has more names than any man I have ever heard of.

Huayna Capac (#105)

Background

Tito Husi Hualpa was born between the years of 1464 and 1468 in the  Inca Empire. He was the eleventh Sapa Inca, or Inca Emperor, and was part of the Hanan dynasty. Hualpa was better known as Wayna Qhapaq, or Huayna Capac, which means 'youthful prince.'

Sapa Inca

As the Sapa Inca, Capac went on many military campaigns to extend the reach of the Inca Empire To the south, he extended the empire to Chile and Argentina, and to the north, he movied into Ecuador and even Colombia. To help keep control, Huayna Capac created two capitols within his empire. Cuzco, the traditional Inca capitol, would manage the south, while the stronghold of Tomebamba would have control in the north. Under Capac, the Inca Empire reached its greatest size, covering much of western and central South America, and the Empire was populated by over 200 distinct ethnic groups. Huayna Capac was also very involved in public works. He helped fund the building of temples as well as food storehouses. He also expanded the Inca road network to allow food and messages to travel quickly through the Empire. The Inca road network was one of the best road systems in the world at its time.

The End

Even though Huayna Capac probably never encountered a European, Spaniards had already been as far as Colombia, bring their diseases with them. Most believe that Capac died of smallpox that he contracted while campaigning in Colombia in the 1520s. Capac was the last great emperor of the Inca, for after he died, a power struggle would leave the Inca weak and were easily conquered by the Francisco Pizarro. Huayna Capac is on our list for ruling the Inca Empire at the height of one of the most power civilizations in America and the entire world.

Erik the Red (#114)

Childhood

Erik Thorvaldsson was born around 950 A.D. in Norway. Erik was the son of Thorvald Asvaldsson, but is better known as Erik the Red, probably due to his red hair. Thorvald was exiled from Norway for committing manslaughter, so he and his family, including Erik, moved to Iceland.

Life

Erik, after marrying a woman named Thjodhild, moved to the island of Oxney. After finishing his house, he went back to a man named Thorgest to retrieve some, setstokkr, or items of mystical importance that he had given Thorgest to keep safe. When Erik wasn't given his setstokkr, he took some from Thorgest's house, though it is unknown whether they were Thorgest's or Erik's. When Thorgest followed Erik, two of Thorgest's sons were killed by Erik along with several others. Erik was thus exiled from Iceland for three years. Erik then moved west, and is one person credited with discovering Greenland, though he was definitely the first person to settle there. Greenland got its name from Erik. The whole name was part of an advertisement scheme to draw people to Greenland even though it was very cold and icy there. Erik created the settlement of Eystribyggo in Greenland where the settlement grew to the size of 5,000 with Erik as their leader.

The End

Erik the Red died  around the year 1003 A.D. He is important for discovering Greenland, creating one of the largest advertisement lies in history, and for having the son, Leif Erikson, who would later be one of the many discoverers of America.