They wielded influence in the politics of the Shogunate as heads of the fudai daimyo (a daimyo in hereditary vassal to the Tokugawa family), producing five Tairo (chief ministers), including Naosuke II, during the 264 years of the Edo period (there are arguments for and against whether Naotaka became Tairo or not).
彼らは、譜代大名の筆頭として幕政に重きをなし、江戸時代264年間を通じて井伊直弼など5名の大老を輩出した（直孝が大老になったかどうかは賛否両論ある）。