Battle of Uji and start of the Genpei War
June 20, 1180
In central Japan, the Minamoto prince Yorimasa and a force of warrior-monks fought a Taira army at a river bridge near Uji and lost. Yorimasa committed ritual suicide on the battlefield, reportedly the first recorded seppuku. Years of civil war between Taira and Minamoto had begun. The conflict would be immortalized in the Tale of the Heike, one of the masterpieces of Japanese literature.
In context
Also in 1180 (4 other events on record)
- Philip II crowned King of France · Europe · Politics
- Toltec Tula collapses · North America · Politics
- Death of Manuel I Komnenos · Europe · Politics
- Yoritomo raises the eastern war banner · East Asia · War
Before and after in East Asia
Before and after in War
Era
High Middle Ages (1000–1300), one of 1,306 events from that era on Saeculum.
Sources