Hirotada Matsudaira served as lord of Okazaki Castle in Mikawa Province during Japan's Sengoku period. Son of Matsudaira Kiyoyasu, the seventh head of the Mikawa Matsudaira clan, he bore childhood names Senshōmaru, Senchiyo, and Jirōzaburō. Following his father's assassination in 1535, loyal retainer Abe Sadayoshi protected him. With Imagawa clan support, Hirotada secured Okazaki Castle, an alliance plunging him into conflict with the Oda clan.

In 1540, Oda Nobuhide attacked and captured the Matsudaira stronghold of Anjō Castle, installing his son Oda Nobuhiro as lord. Despite aid from his father-in-law Mizuno Tadamasa, Hirotada failed to retake the castle. He married Tadamasa's daughter, Odai no Kata (Okichi), in 1541. Their son Matsudaira Takechiyo (later Tokugawa Ieyasu) was born in 1542. Hirotada's relationship with Tadamasa soured, leading to divorce from Odai no Kata in 1544; he then married Makihime, daughter of Toda Yasumitsu.

Hirotada's campaigns against the Oda faced significant setbacks. He allied with Imagawa Yoshimoto at the First Battle of Azukizaka in 1542 but suffered defeat. In 1543, his uncle Matsudaira Nobutaka defected to the Oda, weakening the clan. During a critical conflict in 1548, Hirotada agreed to send his six-year-old son Takechiyo as a hostage to the Imagawa to secure their aid against Oda Nobuhide. The Oda intercepted the plan, kidnapping Takechiyo and holding him for three years.

Hirotada died in 1549 at age 22. Accounts differ on the cause, citing assassination by retainers bribed by the Oda clan or illness. His legacy endured through his son, who unified Japan and founded the Tokugawa shogunate. In 1612, Tokugawa Ieyasu posthumously honored Hirotada with the court rank of Dainagon.