Early warrior authority

Abstract

Abstract This chapter describes the creation of warriors as an early status group. Minamoto Yoritomo won the Gempei War, an event that allowed him to create his own mini government in Kamakura, later referred to as the Kamakura shogunate. The chapter describes how some warriors gravitated to Kamakura, joined Yoritomo’s bureaucracy, and interacted with each other and the non-warrior nobles in Kyoto. It also highlights the important role of women in the formation of early warrior authority. Yoritomo died early on during this Kamakura Period (1185-1333) and several warrior families, along with their noble allies, struggled to dominate the warrior regime. The Hōjō emerged victorious and had to fight against the invading Mongols. In so doing, the Hōjō begin to dominate warriors throughout Japan. This chapter also introduces several sources of warrior “law” and conduct that show the influence of non-warrior elite culture on warrior culture and behaviour.