The religious establishment at Hongan-ji Temple, which had been revived by Rennyo, of the Jodo Shinshu (True Pure Land sect), began to form large groups of laymen followers, called (Buddhist) "lecture meetings," and after the Onin War, these groups rivaled the Sengoku daimyo, who had supplanted the shugo daimyo, in strength; they began to be referred to as the Ikko sect, and united by faith, fell into opposition with the power and influence of the shugo daimyo.
浄土真宗の蓮如が再興した本願寺教団は、講と呼ばれる信徒集団を形成し、応仁の乱の後には守護大名に取って代わった戦国大名に匹敵する勢力になり、一向宗とも呼ばれるようになり、信仰の下に団結して守護大名の勢力と対抗する。