Medieval Emperors
His Imperial Majesty Emperor Yekonu Amlak
In the year 1270, Ethiopia went through a monumental change. After a brief war, the last of the Zagwe Emperors, Harbe II, was convinced by St. Tekle Haimanot, the founder of Debre Libanos Monastery (thus the first Echege of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church) to relinquish the throne in favor of Yekonu Amlak, a direct descendant of the last Axumite Emperor Anbassa Widim. Yekonu Amlak had raised an ever-increasing army and large sections of the country were rallying to the Solomonic banner. The Church recognized the legitimacy of the Solomonic claimant and yet did not want to see humiliation and harm come to the Zagwe Emperor. The Zagwes had been regarded as saintly and pious children of the Church, so the Church wished to protect them. Emperor Harbe II was convinced by St. Tekle Haimanot to relinquish the throne, and he retired to a monastery. The Solomonic dynasty was thus restored. In the act of settlement, Yekonu Amlak agreed to grant the title of Wagshum and rule over the district of Wag to the heirs of the Zagwe Emperors. The Wagshums were guaranteed the right to be seated in the presence of the Emperor (provided he himself was seated), the right to have a silver throne a step below the Emperor's gold throne, and the right to have the negarit war drum beaten for them just as it was beaten for the Solomonic Emperor. Yekonu Amlak was crowned at Debre Birhan in Shewa and was thereafter based there. His relationship with the Church was very close due to the role of Saint Tekle Haimanot in convincing Harbe II to abdicate in his favor. Yekonu Amlak handed to the church vast land holdings, starting a tradition continued by his descendants that ended up making the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church the largest single land owner in the Empire. He consolidated his rule over the northern highlands and enforced Imperial hegemony over the emerging Islamic ministates in the Empire and the surrounding lowlands. Chief among these, he subjugated the Sultanate of Ifat. Yekonu Amlak died in 1285.
Emperor Yigba Tsion
Upon the death of Yekonu Amlak, he was succeeded by his son Yigba Tsion, who spent much of his reign fighting various other sons and grandsons of Yekonu Amlak for the Crown. After a brief reign that ended with his death in 1294, the fighting intensified amongst his brothers and nephews. The struggle extended until about 1300 or so when it was decided to return to the old custom of imprisoning all male heirs of the House of Solomon to prevent wars of succession. Instead of the old royal prison at the Debre Damo monastery, the royal men were taken to the new monastery prison built on Amba Gishen.
Emperor Amde Tsion
Amde Tsion was crowned in 1313 and brought all the Christian distrincts of the northern highlands under his firm control. He expanded his power deeper into Shewa, Gojjam, Damot, and Agew Midir. He established stronger control of the Lake Tana area, forming a strong base on the Zegey penninsula where he built the beautiful St. Mary's church, a church which still stands today with its magnificent murals. He also expanded deep into the south into Hadiya, which is in modern Sidama (Sidamo), and spread Christianity throughout the south. He strengthened the monarchy and established a more stable system of government. Emperor Amde Tsion died in 1344.
Emperor Zera Yacob
Emperor Beide Mariam (Iskinder) and Empress Eleni
Emperor Naod
Emperor Libne Dengel (Wenag Seged)
His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Libne Dingel (Wanag Seged or Dawit I)
Emperor Libne Dingel was a boy of 13 when he assumed the Imperial Throne upon the death of his father Emperor Naod in 1507. Born to Emperor Naod and his wife Empress Naod Mogassa, Libne Dingel was named Dawit (David), but he assumed his baptismal name, Libne Dingel, upon becoming Emperor. However, he is sometimes referred to as Emperor Dawit I. He was also given the royal nom de guerre of Wanag Seged upon his enthronement. Seged means "to whom one bows" in Ge'ez, the ancient language of the Ethiopian Church. Wanag means Lion in Somali, so Wanag Seged translates to "He to whom the lions bow." As the new Emperor was a minor, it was decided that a regency council should rule the country in his name until he reached the age of majority. The regency was headed by the widow of Emperor Beide Mariam I, the Dowager Empress Eleni, grandmother of the new monarch. The other members of the Regency Council included Dowager Empress Naod Mogassa, mother of the Emperor, Dejazmatch Wossen Seged of Gojjam, a royal relative who bore the title Gojjam Negash, and several other relatives and officials. Empress Eleni was the senior of the two Dowager Empresses, and, as such, she presided over the council as the chief regent. Empress Eleni was the widow of Beide Mariam the Great and had also briefly served as regent for her son Naod. She was the daughter of a previous sultan of Adal and was thus a member of the Muslim Walasma dynasty of that vassal state. She had converted to Christianity to marry the Empreror of Ethiopia and had become a very devout member of the Orthodox Church. Empress Naod Mogassa was the sister of the Bahir Negash Dori. The Bahir Negash was the ruler of the northernmost province which bordered the Red Sea, which roughly corresponds to the modern state of Eritrea. Dejazmatch Wossen Seged was a powerful nobleman who was related to the new Emperor and was a man feared and respected throughout the Empire.
With the help of these regents, the boy Emperor began his long reign. Ethiopia was prosperous and reasonably peaceful at the time. The Islamic Emirates, Sultanates, and Imamates of the lowlands were in submissive vassalage to the Imperial Crown, paying their annual tribute. At this time, there were about 60 foreign nationals in the Ethiopian Empire. Most were Middle Eastern, Armenian, Greek or South Asian (Indian), but one was a man named Pedro De Corbelam, who was Portuguese. This man became very influential at court, particularly with the young Emperor and the Empress-Regent Eleni. He impressed upon the Queen the greatness of Portugal and the Christian piety of her King and people. The Empress, troubled by the increasing influence of the Ottomans among the Islamic subjects of the Empire, decided that Portugal might prove to be a valuable ally against the Turks. As a backdrop to this, in 1508, the Turks provided a large amount of weapons to the Emir of Harrar and the Adal, Mahfuz (or Mahfud), and the Emir subsequently invaded the Shewan district of Yifat and burned farms and churches. The young Emperor Libne Dingel had led his first military expedition against the Emir and defeated him in July of that year in Yifat; he was presented with the Emir's severed head. Although the crushing of the Adal forces at Yifat provided peace for the following 10 years, Empress Eleni was not reassured. She feared that the Turks would continue to arm the Islamic principalities in the lowlands and it was only a matter of time before another invasion was lauched. Therefore, she decided to send a letter seeking friendship and a gift of a large gold processional cross to the King of Portugal. As the first Ambassador of the Ethiopian Monarch to be sent abroad, she chose an Armenian merchant named Matthew. Matthew the Armenian set out from Ethiopia in 1510 and arrived in the Portuguese colony in India. From India, Matthew traveled to Portugal and arrived three years later (in1513) and was received by King Emanuel the Lucky. The letter from the Dowager Empress Eleni proposed that marriage ties be established between the two royal families and that the Portuguese (with their powerful navy) help push the Turks from the Red Sea region. Matthew also relayed a verbal message stressing the advantages Portugal could gain by pushing the Turks from the Red Sea and having Ethiopia as an ally on the African coast, thereby protecting Portuguese interests in the Indian Ocean and its Indian colony. King Emanuel was so sufficiantly impressed by the idea that he sent Matthew to Rome to meet Pope Leo X with a letter explaining the proposal from the Empress-Regent of Ethiopia. The Pope listened to Matthew, and he agreed that the only surviving Christian state in Africa must be cultivated as an ally. As such, the King of Portugal and Pope Leo X decided to send a large delegation to Ethiopia. To lead this first European Embassy to Africa, King Emanuel appointed Dom Edwardo Galvam and several deputies. The Pope added several clerics whose mission was to bring the Ethiopian Church into the fold of the Roman Catholic faith. They included the clergymen Dom Francois Alvarez, Juan Fernandez, and Alfonso Mendez. The King and the Pope wrote letters (dated November 1st, 1514) and sent them off from Lisbon with Matthew the Armenian in 1515. Their initial attempt to enter Ethiopia was aborted when the leader of the delegation, Dom Edwardo Galvam, died suddenly on the Red Sea island of Camaran. Three other members of the delegation also died on the Dahlak Islands off Massawa, so the Portuguese decided to go instead to India. Two years later, with the addition of Dom Rodrigo and George D'Albern, they entered Ethiopia and entered the Monastery at Debre Bizen to await an answer to the announcement of their arrival that they sent to the Emperor in Shewa. Matthew the Armenian died at Debre Bizen as a victim of an epidemic there. The Europeans fled the monastery because of the epidemic and went to Debaroa, the seat of the Bahir Negash, who was the uncle of the Emperor. From Debaroa, the Portuguese traveled into Shewa and attended the installment of the new Echege of Debre Libanos Monastery. Then, on November 20th, 1520, the Portuguese and Papal embassy to Ethiopia arrived in Antsokia ( Antioch) and were received by the Emperor Libne Dingel. The Emperor was now of age and ruling in his own right without any regents. He was still a young man and perhaps a bit rash. The Chronicle of Kings states that he had founded a new capital at a place named Bokan. With the protracted period of peace, the Emperor had engaged in war games to keep up the battle skills of his army. The Chronicler was apparently disapproving of the maneuvers, as he states that the Emperor's war games had caused the walls of his citadel to crumble and kill many beggars who had come to beg alms. The Chronicler seems to have been implied that this may have contributed to the displeasure of the Creator, an event which led to the catastophe of the Gragn wars which were soon to follow. The Chronicle also accuses the Emperor of practicing the Pagan Oromo tradition of painting the forehead of his horse with the blood of a slaughtered sheep and engaging in Pagan rituals, including the smoking of tobacco. The chronicle also states that the Emperor sent loads of incense to the monasteries of Debre Libanos and Tana Qirqos and begged the monks to pray for war so that he could earn glory on the battle field like his ancestors. These acts are what the Chronicler believed caused the chaos to come, although again one could argue that it was merely youth and inexperience. Nevertheless, now the Emperor was faced with the first group of Europeans to visit Africa in an official ambasadorial capacity. He had apparently expected the Portuguese to bring him weaponry, but, instead, most of them were priests. This displeased him immensely, and he told the delegation so. However, things were quickly smoothed over. The delegation included a painter and a doctor -- the painter was quickly put to work making religious Icons and the doctor was also put to work. After a stay of six years, the Portuguese (with the exception of the artist and the doctor) returned to Europe. They were accompanied by an Ethiopian priest, Tsega Ab, who was sent as an emisarry to the King of Portugal. Dom Francois Alvarez was appointed as emissary to the Pope. A gold crown was sent as a gift to the new King of Portugal, John II, and a gold cross was sent to the new Pope, Clement. The Emperor requested that artisans, builders, and weapons be sent to him. They set off for Europe in 1526 and were expected to return as soon as possible. Ten years later, however, with no sign of a reply, the Emperor sent one of the Portuguese who had remained behind, Juan Bermudez, to Lisbon. This time the messenger brought dire news -- the Christian Empire of Ethiopia was on the verge of being utterly destroyed at the hand of a Moslem prince and the Heir of the House of Solomon plead for help. His Empire was being crushed by a Moslem leader (Ahmed Ibn Ibrahim Al Ghazi, who is better known to Ethiopians as Mohammed Gragn) who had swept into the Christan highlands and was systematically erasing every trace of the Christian faith.
The origins of Gragn are obscure, although popular legend has a colorful story of his origins. It is said that, in those days, the Emirate of Adal and Harrar would send an annual tribute to the Emperor of Ethiopia, consisting of 700 white mules, 50 nuggets of gold, 30 carpets, 1,300 shawls, 1,000 bulls, and 3,000 goats and sheep. On delivery of this tribute one year, Gragn's mother, Shemshia, accompanied the caravan from Harrar to Debre Libanos. While she was there, she met a young monk who seduced her. The monk, in his haste to return to the evening vespers service after this act, accidentally put her muslim cap on his head instead of his monk cap. Upon entering the chapel wearing the cap of a muslim woman, all his fellow monks realized that he had slept with one of the muslim women from Harrar and in anger they beat him with their prayer staffs. He was so badly injured that he died. Shemshia returned to Harrar and gave birth to Ahmed, who was ridiculed by his playmates for not having a father. These circumstances are said to be the reason why Gragn so hated the Christian highlanders and especially monks. Although this legend is rather colorful, it differs greatly with the account of his life preserved by the Harrari, Afar, and Somalis. Their account states that Ahmed was the son of Ibrahim Al Ghazi, and that he grew up in the port town of Zeila. His father is said to have given him a slave named Abdeli who remained his close retainer for his entire life. He entered the service of the Emir of Harrar and the Adal Mahfuz, who would later be killed fighting Libne Dingel in Yifat. During his service under Mahfuz, his father Ibrahim was killed by the Sultan Abu Bakr of Zeila, earning the hatered of Ahmed Al Ghazi. He would lead a force against the Sultan and defeat him, thereby receiving the title of "Sheik of Zeila" from the Turks. Ahmed married the daughter of the Emir Mahfuz of Harrar and the Adal, Bati Dil Wenbera (whose name translates to "Victory is Her Throne"). Upon the defeat and beheading of Emir Mahfuz in Yifat, Ahmed siezed the throne of the Wellasma dynasty in Harrar and defeated all rivals. His wife, through whom he claimed the Emirate, urged him to avenge the death of her father. The Turks increased the amount of arms and aid they were sending to Harrar and continued to encourage rebellion against the Emperor and the dominating Christians of Ethiopia. They provided him with the latest in weaponry in very large amounts. The Turks were naturally reacting to the growing alliance between the Portuguese and the Ethiopian Empire and were determined to undermine it. Ahmed began to use the title of "Imam" and the Muslims of the Empire began to regard him as their greatest hope of taking the leading role. As time passed, armed with the latest weaponry and led by a new ambitious ruler, the Adal Muslims grew in confidence.
In 1525, a relative of the Emperor named Fanuel, ruler of the district of Wag, was ordered by the Emperor to march into Adal territory. He did so, looting the Muslim territories along the way. When news reached Imam Ahmed, he gathered a force and defeated Fanuel, taking back the looted property that Fanuel had seized. The Harraris were jubilant at their victory, and the Emperor and his court were horrified. Word spread of the left-handed ruler of Harrar, "Ahmed Gragn" or "Mohammed Gragn", who had slaughtered the forces of the powerful Fanuel. It seems that a quick attempt was made to crush Gragn at this early stage by encouraging his rival and enemy, Sultan Abu Bakr of Zeila, to attack him. This was the same Abu Bakr who had killed Gragn's father years earlier. The Sultan was intitially successful, driving Gragn from the city of Harrar itself and pushed him all the way out to Hobat. However, Gragn lauched a counter-offensive and crushed the Sultan, becoming the undisputed leader of the Muslim lowlands. Therefore, in 1527, the Emperor decided to send his response. A large force led by Ras Degelehan, husband of the Emperor's sister and governor of Bale, marched and clashed with Gragn's forces. The battle is said to have lasted for three days and was a bitter and bloody one. In the end, however, the Muslims were victorious, and they captured many great Christian nobles and a huge amount of weapons and loot. The following year, the Emperor sent another important general, Wenag Jan, to fight Gragn. They fought a two-day battle in Yifat wherein the Muslims again emerged victorious. Wenag Jan was killed, and many Christian soldiers are said to have defected to the victorious Muslim side. Gragn then marched into the town of Antsokia, the district seat of Yifat, and burned down the Church of St. Mary. When news that the Muslims had marched into the highlands and burned the Church of Our Lady in Antsokia, the Emperor rose to defend his faith and to firmly put the rebellious lowlanders down. The Emperor marched forward with his vast army.
The Battle of Shinbera Kure
The Emperor of Ethiopia marched from his capital at Bokan with 16 thousand horsemen and 200,000 foot soldiers. So in late 1526 or early 1527, the forces of the King of Kings of Ethiopia met with the army of the Imam of Harrar and the Adal, Ahmend Ibn Al Ghazi at Shinbera Kure, in Shewa. Its exact location is not known today, but it is sometimes said to be near Mt. Ziquala in the vicinity of the modern towns of Debre Zeit and Modjo. After a vicious battle in which victory seemed to move back and forth between the two sides, towards the end of the day, the Imperial forces broke and began to flee. Although the Emperor tried to rally his troops, received reinforcements, and tried to fortify the town of Antsokia and the mountain fortress at Aiyfer Amba, his forces were crushed. All of southwestern Shewa fell to the Imam. The battle of Shinbera Kure had been the death of the old Empire of Ethiopia. Gragn, armed with the latest weaponry from the Turks, found that the Emperor with his thousands of troops could not match him. His victory assured, he began to sweep forward. At this point, the "Gojjam Negash" Wossen Seged, who had once served as a regent for the Emperor, heard of the defeat of the Imperial army. He assembled his own Gojjame forces, marched into Shewa and sent a message to Gragn saying simply, "Do not mistake me as being like the nobles that you have fought thus far, for I am Wossen Seged, so it would be better for you if you were to return to your lands." Gragn's reply was scorn for this most feared of the Emperor's princes. Gragn ordered parties of his troops to spread out into Shewa and they began to loot the entire land. The Muslim troops marched through the country and burned down the town of Ankober. They later marched on and set fire to every church and monastery they could find, beheading preists and nuns as they went. The great church of Astit Kidane Mehret (dedicated to Our Lady Covenant of Mercy) and the Church of Misalle Mariam were sacked and destroyed. Most significantly, the Monastery of Debre Libanos, the leading seat of religious learning in the Ethiopian Church, was burned to the ground, and its manuscripts, clergy, and relics were lost. It is said that the commander of the troops that captured Debre Libanos was named Abu Bakr and that he knew how deeply Ethiopian Christians revered Debre Libanos. Presumably, he had tried to start negotiations with the monks on simply handing over valuable vessels, robes, gold and jewels in exchange for the monastery being spared. While he was engaged in the talks with the willing clergy, one of his soldiers, in violation of orders, entered the knave of the church and set it on fire. In the confusion that followed, the clergy were butchered by the army of Gragn. Shortly afterwards, in 1530, Ahmend Gragn led his forces against the Gojjam Negash, Wossen Seged, but Wossen Seged and his army were able to repel three attacks by the Muslims. On the fourth attack, Wossen Seged began a vicious hand-to-hand duel with Garrad Abid, a general in Gragn's army. Garrad wounded and disarmed the Gojjam Negash, followed by killing him even though Garrad knew he would receive much glory for capturing the kinsman of the Emperor and a former Regent. When news of the death of Wossen Seged and the fall of Debre Libanos reached them, Imperial officers and soldiers began to defect to the Muslims by the hundreds. The Emperor saw that all was futile. Together with his sons Gelawdewos (Claudius), Yaqob (Jacob), Fiqtor (Victor), Minas, his daughters Amete Giorgis, Sebene Giorgis, Welete Kidusan, Taodra (Theodora), his wife Empress Seble Wonge, the aged Dowager Empress Eleni, and the extended Imperial family, he fled Shewa. However, when the Imperial family reached the district of Menz, he left behind his son Yaqob to be protected by the loyal people there in hiding. This was done so that, in the event that the family were captured and massacred, there would at least be one prince in hiding to re-establish the dynasty. Yaqob would father Fasil (ancestor of the elder Gondar line of the Imperial dynasty), Sigwe Qal (ancestor of the Shewa line of the Imperial dynasty), Teskaro and a daughter Welete Mariam. He is thus the ancestor of all Ethiopian monarchs after the coronation of Susneyos the Catholic in the Gondar, Shewa and Tigrean lines.
The Imperial family fled into Wollo and Amhara Sayint. Gragn marched into Wollo in pursuit of the Emperor and his family, but his forces were repulsed by Ras Degelhan and his forces. In a crafty scheme to capture the Emperor and his family, Gragn then instructed his troops to speak only in Amharic (rather than Harrari and Arabic) and to tell the country fold that they were the men of Ras Degelhan. Thus disguised, the forces of Gragn were able to approach the mountain citadel where Libne Dingel and his family were hiding. However, a renegade Muslim soldier set fire to a church and alerted the population of the arrival of Gragn. As panic set in, a furious Gragn, leading a force of his best soldiers himself, rushed forward on the Emperor's tent to capture him personally. However, the Imperial guards fought fiercely and Gragn was unable to approach the Imperial tent. Under cover of darkness and heavily disguised, the Emperor fled the scene. Gragn was finally able to overwhelm the guards and entered the tent, finding the magnificent throne and large quantities of precious metals and stones -- but not the Heir of Solomon. Gragn realized that although a large part of the Empire was now his, he would never be aknowledged as the ruler of Ethiopia as long as Libne Dingel lived. He gave the order to his soldiers to burn every church they could find and personally oversaw the burning of the church of Mekane Silassie (House of the Trinity). He then went on to Atrons Mariam church and demanded that the monks give him the Arc, relics, and treasure of the church -- an order which they refused. He then had them massacred and burned down the church, recovering the treasure with the help of informants. When he went on to burn the Church of Bete Semayat (House of Heaven), many monks were so distraught that they threw themselves into the flames and burned themselves to death along with their great church. He also destroyed the ancient monastery of Bete Negedguad (House of Thunder). In 1531, the now-fugitive Emperor fled the overrun Amhara Sayint and crossed the Beshilo river into Beghemidir. Gragn ordered his General and in-law, Garrad Ahmishu, to pursue the Emperor, although he could not find him. Instead, he found what was left of the Emperor's advance guard holed up in the monastery of Our Lady on Amba Gishen. The Gishen Mariam Monastery is revered by Ethiopian Christians immensely as it is said that a fragment of the true cross is kept at the church. The Church and monastery crowns a formidable mountain with sheer sides that is virtually impregnable. When Garrad Ahmishu and his troops attempted to assault the mountain monastery, the Imperial soldiers would send down avalanches of rock and caused significant losses to the Moslems. More significantly, when the Christian population of the area heard that the Emperor's men were besieged on Gishen, there was a huge uprising in defense of the fragment of the True Cross, and peasants, young and old, male and female, rushed out to become martyrs of the Cross and protectors of the monastery of the Holy Virgin. Garrad was overwhelmed. His forces were beaten back from Gishen, and he himself was captured. Dragged before the Emperor in his place of hiding, Garrad was brutally executed as Libne Dingel watched. Gragn began to pursue Libne Dingel through the land. Trying to capture the King of Kings was not easy, even though many local Muslims, Jews and even Christians rallied to the victorious Gragn and tried to help him find the Emperor. Libne Dingel evaded him for months. Gragn entered the town of Axum and burned down the St. Mary of Zion Cathedral and looted much of the treasure there, although the monks had already taken away and hidden the great relic which they claim to this day is the Ark of the Covenant. Gragn's Vizier, Abdel Lenim, fought a brutal battle with Tesfa Leul, ruler of Hamasein, and was defeated. Tesfa Leul ordered the beheading of the vizier, and the head was presented to the Emperor Libne Dingel. The triumph was short-lived, for Gragn marched into Hamasein himself and crushed Tesfa Leul, having Tesfa killed in a brutal fashion. The Emperor and his family continued to flee from one hiding place to another while being pursued by Gragn, all while the Muslims laid waste to the ancient Ethiopian Empire and its Orthodox Christian church. At the height of his power, Gragn decided that perhaps he could negotiate an end to the conflict with Libne Dingel. He sent an emissary to the Emperor saying, "To battle against Gragn has become equivalent to doing battle against God, so be reasonable and send your daughter to be my wife, and let us be reconciled." The Emperor replied that, "Rather than give my child to a non-Christian, to a man whose religion is not known, and achieve re-conciliation, I would rather fall dead at the hands of Almighty God, the punisher of sinners. As He is merciful forevermore, he will one day weaken the strong and strengthen us the weak." He thus proudly refused the gesture and further insulted Gragn by not even aknowledging him as a Muslim, but instead referred to him as a pagan, using the term "a man whose religion is not known". The insult would have stung deeply.
It was in this moment of utter desperation that Juan Bermudez was dispatched to Lisbon to plead for help from the King of Portugal. Here the seeds of future conflict were planted -- Bermudez claimed that Libne Dingel had agreed that if the Portuguese could free his people from the Muslim yoke, he would proclaim the Roman Catholic Church to be the established faith of his Empire, that the Ethiopian church would submit to the Pope, and that Libne Dingel had removed the Coptic Bishop of Ethiopia, Abune Markos from his See, and had enthroned Bermudez as Bishop of the Ethiopian church in his place. Bermudez presented these claims to both the king of Portugal and to the Pope. The so-called "Settlement of Libne Dingel" would for years be the basis of claims by the Vatican of hegemony over the Ethiopian Church. If this act was indeed carried out by a desperate Emperor, it was very ill-advised considering the real and significant doctrinal differences between the Church of Alexandria, which Ethiopia was a daughter of, and the Church of Rome. Many European historians have maintained its authenticity, while Ethiopian sources reject it as an invention of the ambitious Bermudez. There are no surviving writen texts to prove that this Settlement did indeed take place. Nevertheless, rather than take the more conventional route to Portugal by trying to board a ship to India, Bermudez used the much more dangerous but less obvious route of Nubia, Egypt, and Jerusalem to get to Rome with the Emperor's plea. He was captured by the Turks, who perhaps didn't realize that he was the ambassador of the Emperor of Ethiopia to the King of Portugal and to the Pope. He escaped and finally arrived at the Holy See in 1536. He was received in audience by Pope Paul III and horrified the Pontiff with his eyewitness account of the burning of great churches and monasteries, of vast libraries of ancient texts put to the torch, of monks, nuns and deacons butchered and burned, and of a fugitive Emperor and Imperial family (who claimed descent from Solomon himself) hiding in caves and forests. He repeated his performance for King John III of Portugal. King John was in the process of appointing Esteban Da Gama as Vice-Roy of India and ordered him now to send military aid to the Emperor of Ethiopia. Da Gama (son of the famous navigator, Vasco Da Gama) prepared to send 400 troops armed with the best in Portuguese armor and firearms under the command of his brother Christophoro Da Gama to Ethiopia. It seemed that Christian Ethiopia was about to be saved from certain destruction and Libne Dingel restored to the throne of his fathers. Fate had different ideas.
Following the departure of Bermudez, the Emperor had left the Amhara lands of Beghemedir and Amhara Sayint and entered Tigrai to fight. During his campaign, an epidemic and famine broke out and decimated his forces. On Good Friday of 1536, the forces of Gragn's general, Abu Bakr Kateem attacked the Emperor's traveling party and, after a long and bloody battle, the Emperor found that his loyal generals, Azaj Tekle Giorgis, Azaj Amha, Azaj Michael Derese, and his confessor from the Debre Bizen Monastery, Abba Tinsae Christos, were all dead. The devastated Emperor carried bravely on. Shortly thereafter, he received even worse news -- the Imperial family had split up to make it harder for Gragn to eliminate them all, and his sons Fiqtor (Victor) and Minas had gone to Shewa with an army and had battled the Muslims at Dewaro. The elder Prince, Fiqtor, had been killed, and the younger, Minas, had been captured. In an act of his supreme contempt for the House of Solomon, Gragn enslaved Minas and sent him as a personal slave and servant to Zebid Pasha, the Turkish ruler of Yemen. The Emperor was a devastated and broken man when he received this last awful news. With one son dead and another captured and enslaved, it seemed that Libne Dingel, Wenag Seged, "He to Whom the Lions Bow" could take no more. The broken-hearted Emperor traveled to the impregnable natural fortress of the monastery of Debre Damo and encamped nearby on an equally formidable mountaintop. The local ruler, Bahir Negash Yishaq, was a maternal cousin of the Emperor and so perhaps he felt secure against betrayal. While there, the Emperor fell ill and weakened, giving up hope of saving his people and devastated by the fate of his sons. Finally, in November of 1540, Libne Dingel, Wanag Seged, King of Kings of Ethiopia died at Debre Damo, although Gragn had been unable to successfully assault Debre Damo due to the sheer cliffs that surround it. The monks were so afraid of his wrath that they refused to allow the royal retainers to bury the Emperor at the monastery. His body was taken to Debaroa, the seat of the Bahir Negash, and, after some considerable time spent by Bahir Negash Yishaq pleading with the monks, the remains were finally taken to Debre Damo and buried with pomp. Libne Dengil is regarded by Ethiopians as a tragic figure who started out his reign with able and competent regents, then started ruling on his own as a foolish and rash youth, but who matured to become a pious, holy, prayerful, yet brave and resolute monarch who fought valiantly to protect his church and his Empire. He was unlucky.
Emperor Gelawdewos (Atsnaf Seged)
Upon the death of Emperor Libne Dengil in 1540, his son Gelawdiwos was proclaimed Emperor and King of Kings. He was given the royal name of Atsnaf Seged, which translates to "He to Whom the Horizon Bows" in Ge'ez. Gelawdiwos was still a young man, yet he had proven himself repeatedly on the field of battle against the Islamic forces of Gragn Mohammed (Ahmed Ibn al Ghazi). As he was still very young, his mother Empress Seble Wongel assisted him in the early part of his reign, although she was not actually given the formal title of Regent. Empress Seble Wongel was from northern Tigrai on one side of her family and from Simen on the other side. Both these areas had often been a source of troublesome and persistent rebellion against previous monarchs. Now, however, these districts became fiercly loyal to the new Emperor because of this blood-tie. The begining of his reign was marked with some significant successes against the forces of the now-dominant Gragn in Tembien and Shirre districts -- districts which were controlled by Yonathan, son of Henok, who had defected from Emperor Libne Dengil to Gragn. The Emperor crushed the Muslim forces and killed Yonathan. While recovering from these battles in Simien, a force of 600 well-armed Portuguese soldiers arrived from India and landed at Massawa. They defeated the Turkish governor of Massawa, Noor id Din, and, after his death in battle, they cut off his head and sent it to the Empress Seble Wongel. They joined their forces with the army of the Bahir Negash Yeshaq and marched to the monastery of Debre Damo to meet with Empress Seble Wongel, who was encamped with her own army nearby. The widowed Empress, the Bahir Negash, and the Portuguese prepared for battle against the Muslims. Gragn became quite alarmed at the possiblity that the young Emperor Gelawdewos would combine his forces with his mother and the Portuguese, so he decided to act swifty and marched into Akale Guzai (in modern day Eritrea). There, in March of 1541, at the battle of Anasa, he fought the combined forces of Empress Eleni and the Portuguese under Christoforo Da Gama. For the first time, the Harrari and Adal forces were faced with cannons, things they had never seen before. Gragn was wounded and fled the scene of battle. He immediately sent a plea to the Pasha of Yemen for more arms. Zebied Pasha sent a force of 2000 Arabs and Turks to back up Gragn's forces. In August of 1541, the Empress and the Portugese again met and fought Gragn at Ashenge. The commander of the Portugese, Dom Christoforo Da Gama, was severly wounded. In the haste of retreat, Da Gama was hidden in a forest so that his wounds could heal before making his way to rejoin the army. While hidden in this wood, a young Turkish girl whom Da Gama had kept as his mistress apparently decided to betray him and led the Muslims to where he was hidden. His captors beat him severely and dragged him before Gragn. They tried to get him to reveal where the Empress and the Portugese had retreated to, but he refused. Gragn then approached the prisoner and told him that if he were to accept Islam, he would be merciful to him. Da Gama is said to have spat in Gragn's face, whereupon he was again severely beaten. Gragn then grabbed an axe and personally beheaded the son of Vasco Da Gama.
In the meantime, Emperor Gelawdewos had finally arrived from Simen with his army and joined them with the forces of his mother and the Portugese. The appearance of the young Emperor apparently greatly cheered the Ethiopian and Portugese soldiers, and they rallied behind him with great enthusiasm. The news of the Emperor's arrival and the rallying of his forces, in combination with the veterans of the Empress army and the Portuguese, sent a tremor of hope through the Christian population. Soon thousands began to flock to his banner from Shewa and Tigrai, Amhara Sayint, Wag, Lasta, the rest of Wollo, Gojjam, Beghemidir, Hamasein and Tigre. The Emperor then marched to Wegera and clashed with Gragn's forces. It proved to be a great victory for Gelawdiwos, and several of Gragn's greatest generals were killed. Many others surrendered and groveled before the Emperor, carrying rocks of repentance on their shoulders and begging for his mercy. The Emperor ordered the large house and Mosque that Gragn had built at Wegera destroyed without a trace. Gragn himself gathered up his forces and marched on the Emperor. The two forces met at Fogera on the Banks of Lake Tana, in February of 1542, and engaged in a huge and bloody battle. During the battle, a loyal Portuguese servant of Dom Christophoro named Pedro Leon saw the opportunity to avenge his master and shot Gragn, wounding him severely. Gragn, so as not to panic his troops, is said to have simply stated, "Fight on." and then sat under the cover of a boulder so as not to show how seriously he was hurt. Leon, however had seen him, and he followed him there and finished him. He cut off Gragn's ear and displayed it to the jubilant Portuguese and Ethiopians who swirled around him in victory. However, just before the battle, the Emperor had promised his sister's hand in marriage "..to he who brings me the head of Gragn." So an Ethiopian soldier quickly went to the corpse and severed the head and presented it to the Emperor, claiming the Princess. The Emperor had already been presented with Gragn's ear by Leon, and so he refused to give his sister to the soldier on the grounds that he did not actually kill Gragn. He gave him a large reward in gold instead. The site of Gragn's death is known as Gragn Ber (Gragn's gate) to this day. Thus ended the remarkable life of Ahmed Ibn Ibrahim Alghazi, known to his enemies as Mohammed Gragn. Gragn's widow Bati Dil Wenbera and the remnants of his once-proud army fled back to Harrar, withdrawing from vast stretches of the Empire in their hasty retreat.
Emperor Minas (Admas Seged)
When Emperor Gelawdewos died in battle on Good Friday, 1559, he was succeeded by his brother Emperor Minas. Years earlier, during the reign of their father, Emperor Libne Dengel, Minas had been captured by the forces of Gragn and sold into slavery to the ruler of Yemen, Zebid Pasha. Emperor Gelawdewos captured Gragn's son in battle and traded the Imam's son for his own brother, and Minas returned from his enslavement in Yemen. One of the first acts of the new Emperor Minas upon assuming the throne was to declare that his wife, Empress Silus Haila (also known as Admas Mogasa), would have precedence over his mother, the Empress Seble Wongel. This effectively removed Seble Wongel as a major power in the Empire. The Dowager Empress was a very popular woman because of the many hardships she had endured over the years of the Gragn wars, and the Emperor was seen as an ungrateful son. Emperor Minas had difficult relations with the Portuguese Catholic clergy that had accompanied the soldiers to Ethiopia to war on the Muslims. This was caused initially with their continued efforts to bring the Ethiopian Orthodox Church into the Roman Catholic faith and was later aggravated when the Bahir Negash Yisaq, ruler of what is today Hamasien in Eritrea, rebelled against the Emperor, proclaiming the Emperor's nephew, Tezkare Qal, as the new "Emperor". The Bahir Negash was briefly successful, but the new "Emperor Tezkare Qal", in a rash act, rushed forward to attack his uncle and was soundly defeated at Wegera and captured. Tezkare Qal was thrown off the cliffs at Lemalemo to his death. Bahir Negash Yisaq then proclaimed Tezkare Qal's brother Fasiledes as "Emperor" and entered into an alliance with the Turks to fight Minas. During all this, the Portuguese clergy were preaching about the corruption of the Emperor and his court and his own failings as a Christian. They made no secret of their sympathies with the Bahir Negash and the rival claimants. Learning of this activity, Emperor Minas summoned the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Portuguese in Ethiopia, Andreas Oviedo, and ordered him to stop preaching. The Bishop angrily refused to do so, and the enraged Emperor is said to have grabbed the cleric's beard and collar and threatened violence. However, they were separated by some attending nobles, and Oviedo was placed under house arrest. Minas ordered that no Portuguese would be allowed to marry an Ethiopian woman, an act which already occurred frequently. Oviedo issued a rival order telling his flock to disregard the Emperor. Minas had Oviedo brought back before him and ordered him to explain his treason. Instead, Oviedo undid his collar and told the Emperor to hit him again or perhaps behead him. The Emperor is said to have grabbed a sword from an attendant and was about to oblige him when the Empress and some nobles interceded and saved Oviedo's life. Soon afterwards, the Catholic priests escaped from their imprisonment and fled to the camp of the Bahir Negash and the claimant Fasiledes. Angrily, Emperor Minas marched north and crushed the forces of Bahir Negash Yisaq but was unable to capture the Catholic priests because they had once again fled. He had to quickly turn back south to crush an uprising of Oromos in the Shewan district of Doba. During this campaign, the Emperor became ill with malaria and died shortly thereafter in 1563 -- a reign of only six years. He was buried at the Church of St. Mary at Tedbabe.
Emperor Sertse Dengel (Melek Seged)
Upon the death of Emperor Minas in 1563, the nobles of the land congregated to decide who should succeed him. There was apparently some dispute as to who was the best candidate for the throne. Although most championed the rights of the late Emperor's eldest son, Prince Sertse Dengel, there was a strong bid made in favor of Hamelmal, son of Romanework, sister of Emperor Libne Dengel. Finally, the supporters of Sertse Dengel carried the day, and he was proclaimed King of Kings with the additional name of Melek Seged, which translates as "He to Whom Kings Bow", Melek being a version of the Arabic Malik, which means king. The new Emperor was only 13 years of age upon sitting on the throne of Solomon, and he would have a long 34-year reign. However, he was immediately challenged by his cousin Hamelmal, who had made a strong bid for the throne, and who now rose up in rebellion in order to sieze the crown by force. Soon the major nobles of Gojjam and Dembia, not wanting to be ruled by a mere boy of 13, had joined forces with Hamelmal. Sertse Dengil enjoyed the support of much of the clergy and of his grandmother Empress Seble Wongel as well as his mother Empress Silus Haila. After an initial defeat, the fortunes of Sertse Dengel looked rather bleak. But soon, more and more nobles began to flock to his banner, and eventually he achieved the upper hand. Finally, Hamelmal surrendered to the young Emperor, who granted his cousin all of Gojjam as his fief. Hamelmal died soon after receiving Gojjam, and it was whispered that he was poisoned at the Emperor's order. Hamelmal's lasting legacy was that he founded the Gojjam branch of the Imperial Dynasty. Emperor Sertse Dengel continued to consolidate his power throughout the Empire. He led military campaigns to enforce his rule in Gurage,Hadiya, Enaria, Kenbata and Bale. In Enaria, however, the local king Sebenhi received him peacefully and paid him homage. During his 34 years on the throne, Sertse Dengel was constantly at war. Sertse Dengel would also have to deal with the continued rebellion of Bahir Negash Yisaq, who relied on the Turks for support. He was constantly trying to enforce his rule over the Oromo (then called the Gallas), who had begun to migrate further and further north in the aftermath of the Gragn wars. This did not prevent the Emperor's niece, Mena Israel, from marrying an Oromo chief and having seven children by him. Constant Oromo raiding and looting in Gojjam and Shewa prompted the Emperor to launch a campaign against them near Lake Zewai-- an act which would last a year. He was ultimately victorious.
After the death of Gragn, the city-state of Harrar was unable to restore itself to its former glory. The old Welasma dynasty had died out and various claimants, calling themselves Imams (descendants of Gragn), Sultans or Emirs, representing three lines of claimants, fought for supremacy. The Oromos took advantage of this and reduced the rule of the Harraris to the immediate environs of the city of Harrar itself. The Qottu Oromos occupied the surrounding territories, and although they adopted Islam from the Harraris, they remained distinct from them. The Imam Mohammed decided to march into Shewa and fight the Emperor, leaving his brother Ahmed as Vizier of the City. The Imam's army was crushed in Shewa, and he himself was captured and killed. Upon hearing of his death, the Qottus stormed the city of Harrar and killed the Vizier, ending once and for all, the Imamate of Harrar. The Muslim seat of power moved north to the Afar lowlands and the Ausa Sultanate. In the north, after repeated entreaties, Bahir Negash Yisaq joined forces with the Turks and challenged the Emperor by sending him a cannon ball with a letter declaring his defiance of the Crown. The Emperor marched north and began a campaign in November of 1578 through January of 1579. During this campaign, the Turkish Pasha of Massawa, Kedawir, was slain by the Emperor's cousin, Abeto Yonael. Shortly afterwards, the Bahir Negash was also killed and his constant rebellion through two reigns came to an end. The severed heads of both the Pasha and the Bahir Negash were brought before the Emperor and displayed to the notables of the north to dissuade them from further rebellion and aid to the Turks. Sertse Dingel then drove the Turks from Adi Korro and accepted the surrender of the Turkish garrison at Debaroa. Sertse Dingel then went to Axum to finally be crowned amid great pomp and lavish ceremony. Following his coronation, Sertse Dingel moved on to Beghemider in 1579 to deal with raids being carried out by the Falasha Jews of Simien in the district of Wegera. The Emperor marched to the Falasha stronghold in Simien commanded by the Jewish leader Goshe. The mountain fortress was surrounded by the Imperial forces and the water supply captured. Goshen sent emissaries to the Emperor assuring him of his peaceful nature and loyalty to the Crown. Then, late at night, he launched a surprise attack, killing the Emperor's favored commander, Iqube Michael, and many soldiers. The Emperor appointed Mekabis to go and avenge Iqube Michael. Mekabis recaptured the water supply and the lower fort of the Falasha Jews who then retreated into their upper fort. From there they sent messages to the Ethiopian camp that if the Emperor's cousin Yonael (who had once been the ruler of their native Simien) was sent to negotiate with them, they would lay down their arms. The Emperor instructed Yonael not to take any revenge on the Falasha if they were truly willing to lay down their arms. When he conveyed this command to the Falasha, many were pleased and accepted the terms brought by Yonael. Some others, however, tried to escape with their weapons and were pursued; they were engaged in battle by Yonael and his men and crushed. To the prominent religious leader of the Falasha Jews who had tried to escape with the dissidents, Yonael had a demand. He told the religious leader that if he were to beg Yonael for mercy in the name of "The Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of God", he would spare his life. The devout Jew replied that it would be better for a Falasha to die than beg for mercy in the name of Mary. Yonael promptly beheaded him on the spot. This caused the truce with the remaining Falashas to collapse, and the Jewish leaders Goshen and Gideon pledged to fight to the death. As the battle raged, the Emperor ordered a cannon captured from the Turks to be fired into the mountain fort of the Jews. When the explosion killed some Falashas, the defenders of the fort, having never seen a cannon before, are said to have believed that lightning had come down and killed their fellow warriors. Panic set in -- amidst the chaos, the Imperial forces were able to rush in and storm the fort. The Jews tried to fight valiantly, but their cause was lost. Many died by throwing themselves over the cliffs around the fort, including the leader Goshen. Gideon escaped and fled the battle field. In a particularly brutal episode, a vicious program was then initiated at the order of a priest named Aba Newai, who instructed the soldiers to leave not a single man, woman, child or beast alive among the Falasha, just as the ancient Israelites had been told not to spare a single man, woman, child or beast of the Moabites during the times of Samuel the Prophet. A brutal massacre ensued, and the Falasha rebellion was put down.
The Emperor then marched south through Gojjam, Wellega, Limmu, Kembatta, and Jimma, putting down rebellions and punishing bandits and outlaws along the way to his destination, Enaria. The old king of Enaria, Sebenhi, had died and his son Bandecho was now king in his place. The new king received the Emperor with great pomp, paying homage to his liege lord and throwing a huge feast to celebrate the arrival of the Emperor and his army. It is said that the army did not molest the peasantry during the Emperor's stay in Enaria, and Sertse Dingel was well-pleased by Bandecho and his governance of Enaria. During his stay, Bandecho converted to Christianity along with many of his officers, and the Emperor stood as his godfather. In an act that moved the Emperor deeply, Bandecho chose the new Christian name of Ze Mariam, which was the name of the Emperor's recently deceased infant son. It is said a tearful Emperor put a gold cross around the neck of his new godson before his departure. The priests were busy converting droves of the local people to Christianity. Due to the eager and loyal response the Enarians had shown to the Emperor and his church, their annual tribute to the Imperial throne was reduced by half. Soon the ruler of nearby Bosso also converted to Christianity and was baptized with the new name Giorgis (George) and the Emperor stood as his godfather as well. Sertse Dengel had many significant acomplishments other than military, among which was the founding of the City of Gondar -- a city which would later serve as the capital of the Empire.
Emperor Yacob
Upon the death of Emperor Sertse Dingel in 1597, a crisis of succession occurred. The Emperor did not have any sons with his legal wife, Empress Mariam Senna -- only daughters. However, he did have a surviving seven-year old son Yacob by his concubine, Emebet Harego (an older son by Harego named Abeto Ze Christos had died a few years earlier, and they had two younger sons -- Abeto Kifle Mariam and Abeto Meteko). Emebet Harego was not just any royal concubine. She was the sister of Gedewon, the hereditary Prince of the Ethiopian Jews, the Falasha. Empress Mariam Senna, together with the husbands of her daughters, Ras Atnasios of Beghemidir and Ras Kifle Wahid of Tigre, placed this child on the throne as Emperor Yacob. Ras Atnasios was declared guardian of the Emperor, and the Empress and Ras Kifle Wahid joined him and the powerful Dejazmatch Ze Silassie on a regency council. Emperor Sertse Dingel's nephew Ze Dingel had been considered the most likely heir since he was fully grown and had considerable support from the nobility, and Susneyos had been considered the most likely alternative to Ze Dingel. With this coup engineered by the Empress, however, both princes were greatly endangered. She knew that she and her sons-in-law could rule as they pleased with a child Emperor, something that they could not hope to do with the grown princes. Abeto Ze Dingel was seized and imprisoned on an island on lake Tana. He would soon escape and flee to Gojjam where he went into hiding. Abeto Susneyos escaped and fled to the south where he took refuge with the Oromo people. However, Emebet Harego, mother of the Emperor and concubine of the late Sertse Dingel, resented the control over affairs that the Empress and her clique had, and is said to have whispered advice in her son's ear over the next few years. Emperor Yacob began to exert himself against the regents as he grew older. First, he announced the elevation of Dejazmatch Ze Silassie to lord of his home province Enaria and sent him back to his home province. Although it was announced as an elevation to high office, it was actually a banishment and it caused panic among the other regents. The regents began whispering that it was not right that such a young boy should be crowned to begin with and that he was not old enough to be Emperor. They also spread a rumor that the boy had gone insane. They received a sympathetic ear among the Roman Catholic clergy who regarded Emebet Harego's status as an Imperial concubine and Jewish ancestry as beneath contempt and questioned the validity of her sons being inheritors of Sertse Dengel's throne. Soon both the nobility and the army were in forment, and the Emperor tried to flee to his mother's native Simien, but he was captured and taken along with his brothers in chains to Enaria in the custody of Dejazmatch Ze Silassie, subsequently elevated to Ras. Empress Mariam Senna then sent out an aggressive search for Abeto Ze Dingel, the nephew of her late husband, found him in Gojjam, and brought him back to court at Danqaz. She had him crowned Emperor Ze Dingel with the additional name of Atnaf Seged. However, his close relations with the Catholic clergy caused the new Emperor to make an enemy of the Orthodox Archbishop Abune Petros. Soon rumors were rife that the new Emperor had converted to Catholicism, and Abune Petros finally anathemized anyone who obeyed Emperor Ze Dingel and regarded him as the legitimate Emperor. The ambitious Ras Ze Selassie took this opportunity to rebel against Ze Dingel and marched from Enaria against the Emperor. He defeated the Emperor and watched as the army mutilated Ze Dingel by poking out his eyes, cut off his fingers to get at his jeweled rings, and then trampeled his body under the hooves of a herd of horses. Ze Selassie entered Danqaz in triumph. Realizing that he could not assume the throne himself due to his humble birth, he then announced that his long-time prisoner, the now adult ex-Emperor Yacob, had been duly restored to his rightful throne. Dowager Empress Mariam Senna, the architect of the previous declarations of new monarchs, quietly accepted this turn of events. Abeto Susneyos, great-grandson of Libne Dingel, who was living among his Oromo allies in Shewa, did not. Susneyos was still considered a rebel ever since he had fled Empress Mariam Senna upon the first enthronement of Yacob. However, having grown up together with Ze Dingel, it is said that Susneyos and Ze Dingel had loved each other as brothers, and Susneyos never directly challenged Ze Dingel's enthronement, staying in quiet exile while his cousin reigned. Now with news of Ze Dingel's brutal death, Susneyos was enraged with the need for vengance. He gathered the forces of the Oromos and Amharas of Shewa and marched into Beghemider. Arriving in Beghemidir, he called the former regent and ruler of Beghemidir, Ras Atnasios, to appear before him and pay homage. The Ras, resentful of the ascendancy of Ras Ze Silassie, obeyed and submitted to Susneyos, promptly entering his service. He was followed by numerous nobles and the bulk of the Portuguese and Spanish community in Ethiopia as well as their Ethiopian allies. Abune Petros the Coptic Archbishop and the anti-Catholic party rallied to Emperor Yacob. The Emperor Yacob is said to have offered Susneyos half of Amhara, all of Shewa, and Wellega to end his rebellion. Susneyos refused by sending the Emperor a message that said, "All of Ethiopia has been given me by God, so I refuse this sort of offer from you." Ras Ze Selassie tried to engage Susneyos in battle, but he failed miserably and his army was obliterated. After barely escaping with his life, and ever wary of the direction the wind was blowing, Ras Ze Selassie sued for peace and submitted to Susneyos; he thereafter entered Susneyos' service. Abandoned by most of his nobles, Yacob marched forth to fight for his throne. The forces of Emperor Yacob and Abeto Susneyos then met in battle, probably at Checheho Ber. Susneyos himself is said to have fired the bullet that killed Emperor Yacob. Susneyos expected the Emperor's forces to disintegrate upon the death of the Emperor. Instead, much to his shock, the fighting intensified. Command was now assumed by none other than the Coptic Archbishop, Abune Petros, who raised his cross in his hand and ordered a new charge. As the battle intensified, a sniper (many say an Arab) shot and killed the Archbishop, upon which the army of Emperor Yacob collapsed and fled. Many of the cavalry are said to have ridden their horses over a cliff by accident in the dark and plunged to their deaths. Susneyos quickly captured Yacob's son, Abeto Gelawdiwos, and had him strangled to death immediately. The younger son of Yacob, Abeto Tsega Christos, fled to Sennar in the Sudan. The Emperor's brothers, Kifle Mariam and Meteko, fled to Simien and joined forces with their uncle, Gedewon of the Falashas. Gedewon promptly proclaimed Abeto Kifle Mariam as Emperor, but Susneyous was able to capture both Abetos Kifle Maram and Meteko and had both princes beheaded. In the meantime, Abeto Tsega Christos, son of Yacob, had arrived in Sennar and the local ruler offered the prince the hand of his daughter in marriage, but the alliance was never to be. Abeto Tsega Christos raised an army instead and led an attack on Susneyos, which failed several years later. Wounded, and utterly defeated, Abeto Tsega Christos and 40 nobles loyal to Emperor Yacob fled to Egypt. The local Turkish governor and the Patriarch of Alexandria gave the prince and his entourage a grand welcome, treating him with all the deference due the son of a king. After a few months in Egypt, Tsega Christos made his way to the Holy Land where, much to the horror of his entourage, he stood up in the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth and proclaimed his conversion to the Roman Catholic faith. His entourage was greatly angered as they had followed him into exile for a cause that included the anti-Catholicism of his father and Abune Petros. The Catholics were jubilant, however, and the Pope extended a special invitation to the Prince to visit him in Rome. After stopping briefly in Corfu and Naples, Abeto Tsega Christos arrived in Rome and paid homage to the Pope. Everywhere he was treated with the honor and dignity of the son of an Emperor. The Pope and the European monarchs probably thought it useful to have a Roman Catholic claimant of the Ethiopian throne close at hand for future use. Tsega Christos moved to France where he was supported by the Regent Cardinal Richeleu and died in Paris in 1648, the first exiled Ethiopian Prince to live in Europe. The line of Sertse Dengel thus faded away.
Emperor Ze Dingel (Atsnaf Seged)
Emperor Susneyos the Catholic (Siltan Seged)
The birth of Emperor Susneyos is among the more interesting stories of the monarchs of Ethiopia. His father was Abeto Geram Fasil, son of Abeto Yacob, and grandson of Emperor Libne Dingel. As seen previously in the history of Emperor Libne Dingel, Abeto Yacob, his youngest son, was hidden by his father in Shewa during the Gragn wars to ensure the continuation of the dynasty in case the rest of the Imperial family were captured and killed by Gragn. Fasil was the son of this same prince Yacob. He was nicknamed Geram, which translates to "confused". It is said that he cultivated an image of being confused and slow, a front to hide that, in reality, he was a very shrewd and calculating man. Once people realized that he was far from the simpleton he liked to portray himself as, they began to refer to him as "Geram" Fasil as an ironic nickname. It is said that Abeto Fasil decided to leave Shewa and enter the service of his first cousin Emperor Sertse Dingel. During his service at court, he fell ill with tapeworm and needed treatment with the harsh kosso remedy. Empress Mariam Senna had him brought to her quarters to be nursed (as he was a member of the Imperial family) and delegated the job to a young nobelwoman in her service named Hamelmalawit. The Empress was Hamelmalawit's guardian, and, as such, she was responsible for making sure she was brought up in her household in purity and respectability. Young Geram Fasil, however, seduced the innocent young girl and she became pregnant. When she showed signs of pregnancy, the Empress began to interrogate her as to whether she was with child. Hamelmalawit is said to have replied, "Your Majesty, I live guarded in your household, would a man enter here as a flea?" The Empress is said to have replied that time would tell. When it became obvious that Hamelmalawit was indeed with child, the Empress threatened her with a severe flogging unless she revealed what man had dared to violate the Empress Mariam Senna's household. When the fearful girl revealed that it was Geram Fasil, the Empress became truly alarmed. She had once been told by a soothsayer that one born in her household but not of her house would inherit the throne. The Empress had only born Emperor Sertse Dengel daughters and no sons. She was now faced with a possible future claimant having been conceived under her very nose. Geram Fasil fled before the Empress could have him arrested and went to Gojjam. The Empress then ordered that Hamelmalawit's belly be massaged with the chaff of Teff grain dipped in water. It was believed that this would cause the baby to be born blind, thus eliminating him from succession to the throne. However, Hamelmalawit was able to send messages to her relatives who were able to rescue her and help her escape to Ginde Beret where she gave birth to her son, who was not blind -- much to his mother's relief. The child was named Susneyos and given the honorific of Abeto. Once news of the birth of this new prince arrived, however, Sertse Dingel insisted that the boy be brought to court and raised as a prince. Empress Mariam Senna accepted the Emperor's decision and Susneyos was raised at court with the other royal children.
Susneyos was crowned Emperor of Ethiopia at Keranio (Calvary) Medhane Alem (Church of the Savior of the World) in Gojjam with the additional name of Siltan Seged around 1507. Almost immediately, the new Emperor had a huge public relations problem. He was widely regarded as responsible for the death of the Archbishop Abune Petros. In an attempt to win over some of his opponents, the Emperor sent messages to the Dowager Empress Mariam Senna asking for forgiveness for any wrongs he might have committed against her. She is said to have replied, "Did you not grow up in my house just as Ze Dingel and Yacob grew up in my house? Of course I forgive you, but only if you promise to leave the nobles of Yacob in peace with their properties and their titles, and if you promise to bury me at the Monastery of Mahdere Mariam, which I have built, upon my death." Emperero Susneyos agreed to do as she asked. Emperor Yacob's loyalists then submitted to Susneyos. The Emperor then had the long-neglected bones of his beloved cousin, Emperor Ze Dingel, brought in state to the island monastery of Daga Estifanos on lake Tana and buried him with great pomp. Although this won the Emperor new friends, and he was reconciled with the Dowager Empress, it did not change the fact that the clergy and most of the country regarded Susneyos as the murderer of the Archbishop, a crime unequaled in the history of the Christian Empire (in their eyes). To strengthen his hold on the heart of the Empire, the new Emperor summoned many prominent Oromo allies from Shewa and elsewhere to come and settle in Gojjam, Beghemidir and Amhara, granting them estates and property, titles, and access to his court and the halls of power. Most shocking to the court and the clergy was his granting to his new Oromo friends lands that had previously been granted to the Monastery of Debre Semaitat (House of Martyrs) by Emperor Gelawdiwos and to Mahidere Mariam Monastery by Empress Silus Haila.
The Emperor became increasingly close to the Spanish and Portuguese clerics and missionaries at his court. He granted them land to build a church in Dembia. From the established Catholic monastery at Fremona, he summoned the renounced Portuguese priest, Father Pero Paez, and had him settle at the new Imperial Palace that was established at Danqaz. The Emperor even took Paez and a delegation of the Catholic clergy with him to Axum when he went for his formal coronation as Emperor. Paez was a Jesuit priest, and the members of the Society of Jesus were very active in seeking converts among the highest nobility and the Imperial family itself. Because of Paez's closeness to the Emperor, the Jesuits now enjoyed a level of access and influence at court that was giving pause to the Orthodox clergy. As the King of Spain had succeeded to the Portuguese throne as well, the Emperor of Ethiopia now decided to send a letter of friendship to King Phillip III and to Pope Paul V. The letters were sent in the care of none other than the Emperor's good friend, the Roman Catholic Father Pero Paez. The letter asked for additional military aid and may have also stated a wish for closer ties with the Roman Catholic Church.
Emperor Susneyous gives an Imperial reception to the Papal Legate, Archbishop Alfonso Mendez.
During this period, a man said to be named Amdo, arrived at the Monastery of Debre Bizen (in modern day Eritrea) with his face covered in bandages, claiming to have been severly wounded in the face during a great battle. When the monks continued to quiz him, he announced that he was in fact the Emperor Yacob, who had been wounded in battle against Susneyous but had been miraculously saved and brought to Debre Bizen by the protection of the Lord. News of this man who claimed to be Emperor Yacob spread like wildfire across the north and a rebellious army was raised in Simein on his behalf. The brother of Susneyous, Sahle Christos, who was governing Tigrai, crushed the rebellion and imprisoned the "false Yacob". The claimant, however, escaped and fled to Hamasein to raise yet another rebellion when the Emperor and his brother had marched south to fight an Oromo uprising. Having looted the district of Shire, he was attacked and killed by those left by Sahle Christos to protect Tigrai. The false Yacob was then revealed to have actually been an adventurer from Egypt. Next, a new threat came in the person of Ras Ze Selassie. The Ras had been a regent and a man who had come close to seizing full power at times. It is said the only thing keeping him from seizing the throne itself was his lack of royal blood. Ras Ze Selassie was overheard during a drinking binge to say, "Just as I have brought Yacob and Ze Dingel down from the throne, so shall I bring Susneyous down!" This comment earned him immediate arrest and imprisonment on Amba Urey. Ras Ze Selassie escaped and led a marauding band of rebels in Gojjam for a few months. However, he was assassinated by a band of Oromo tribes men loyal to the Emperor, and his head was cut off and presented to Susneyous. But this was not the end of the rebellions against Susneyous. Shortly after his formal coronation at Axum, the Emperor took ill. Rumors began to spread that Susneyous was dead. Therefore, the governor of Wegera, Melke Tsedek, announced that he was raising the flag of rebellion on behalf of Abeto Arzon, a grandson of Emperor Minas, whom he proclaimed Emperor. After several initial successes, Melke Tsedek and Arzon were defeated by Susneyous' brother Ras Yemane Christos and were both executed. Behind all these rebellions, Emperor Susneyous and his supporters saw the hands of the Orthodox Church, and they determined to break the power of the Orthodox clergy once and for all. The Emperor suspected the Orthodox clergy of engaging in a whispering campaign against him and giving support and comfort first to Ras Ze Selassie, then to Melke Tsedek of Wegera, and the pretender to the throne, Abeto Arzon. He even suspected them of possibly causing his brief illness through poisoning.
Emperor Fasiledes (Alem Seged)
Emperor Yohannis I the Blessed (A'elaf Seged)
Emperor Eyasu the Great (Adyam Seged)
Emperor Tekle Haimanot the Cursed (Leul Seged)
Emperor Tewophlos (Atsrar Seged)
Emperor Yostos the Userper (Tsehai Seged)
Emperor Dawit (Adbar Seged)
Emperor Bekaffa (Messih Seged) and Empress Mentiwab
Emperor Eyasu II (Birhan Seged)
Emperor Eyoas I
Emperor Yohannis II (Admas Seged)
Emperor Tekle Haimanot II (Hayil Seged)
Emperor Solomon I (Tibeb Seged)
Emperor Tekle Giorgis I (Fiqur Seged)
During the reign of Emperor Tekle Giorgis I, in an attempt at consolidating declining Imperial power, the Emperor proclamed the imposition of new taxes (on honey) on the population of Beghemidir, the Province in which the capital, Gondar, was located. The nobles of the province appealed to the Emperor, stating that they had long been exempt from such taxes. He refused to accommodate them. The "Enderase" was a noble who was appointed to serve as a type of Grand Vizier or Prime Minister. At this time, it was the Yejju Oromo nobleman -- Ras Gugsa the Great. The nobles assembled at Debre Tabor and summoned him to them. They told him that they no longer wanted to be ruled by the Emperor, and if he stood with them and agreed to act only in consultation with them, he could assume power and relegate the monarch to a powerless symbolic role confined to the Castle compound in Gondar. The Enderase swiftly agreed. Emperor Tekle Giorgis I was informed that he was to refrain from participating in affairs of state and simply reign from his thone as the supreme source of legitimacy and a symbol of sovereignty -- yet devoid of all power. Stripped of all their traditional power, the Emperors became mere puppets of the Enderaseship. The people contemptuously referred to the successive monarchs as Our Ladies the Castle Keepers (Woizazir Ye Gimb Tebakioch). The loss of Imperial prestige had begun with the murder of Eyasu the Great by his son Tekle Haimanot I, but probably the greatest blow to Imperial power was the killing of Emperor Eyoas I on the orders of the Enderase, Ras Michael Sihul. The emasculating of Tekle Giorgis I's power was simply the final straw. The Emperors struggled to maintain their role, but Tekle Giorgis I was the last of the elder Gondar branch of the Imperial dynasty to exercise any real authority. The era that followed was the Zemene Mesafint (Era of the Princes) in which regional leaders governed with little oversight from the capital. They fought each other for power and territory and struggled to seize the position of Enderase for themselves. Athough others did manage to obtain the Enderaseship from time to time, it was usually held by members of Ras Gugsa the Great's family, a noble family of Oromo origin from Yejju and Wollo. Each Enderase would choose a prince of the Imperial House and place him on the throne as his puppet, but when another Enderase seized power, or the incumbent monarch displeased the Enderase, the puppet Emperor would be replaced by another. Some monarchs would be deposed and restored several times in their lifetimes. Although they held the strings of power and authority, the House of Yejju never presumed to seize the throne for themselves, always acknowledging the right of the House of Solomon to occupy the Imperial throne even if only symbolically. Often referred to by foreigners as princes, the Yejju rulers of Ethiopia were in fact nobles and not princes. The following is a list of the monarchs of this era who had no power, but who were legitimate monarchs in whose names the nation was ruled by its many warlords. Many were contemporaries of each other, and found themselves switched on and off the throne at the whim of the Enderase. They followed Emperor Tekle Giorgis I.
Emperor Eyasu III
Emperor Hizkias
Emperor Beide Mariam II
Emperor Solomon II
Emperor Yonas
Emperor Dimitros
Emperor Igwale Tsion (Gwalu)
Emperor Eyoas II
Emperor Gigar
Emperor Beide Mariam III
Emperor Eyasu IV
Emperor Gebre Christos
Emperor Sahle Dingil
Emperor Yohannis III
With the deposing of Emperor Yohannis III in 1851 by Kassa of Kwara, who usurped the throne as Tewodros II, the elder line of the Solomonic Dynasty, the Gondar Branch, came to an end. Emperor Yohannis III was deposed and expelled from the Palace compound in Gondar and went to live in another house in the city. He apparently fell on hard times and would write a pitiful letter to Emperor Napoleon III of France, pleading for funds because he had become destitute. There are stories that he converted to Catholicism. Following Tewodros II's death, three branches of the dynasty, the Tigrai Branch, the Gojjam Branch, and the Shewa Branch became the leading representatives of the House of Solomon. They were challenged by Wagshum Gobeze who set forth claims as both the Zagwe heir and also by virtue of Solomonic blood on his mother's side. Emperor Yohannis IV was the only member of the Tigrai Branch to reign, but his descendants were recognized as the hereditary princes of Tigrai. The Shewan Branch eventually became the reigning branch of the family and recognized as the senior one of the three lines. The head of the Gojjam Branch became King Tekle Haimanot of Gojjam, and his descendents ruled Gojjam as its princes for many decades afterwards. The family trees are extensive.