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39-412: Sarsa Dengel had intended to make his nephew Za Dengel his successor, but under the influence of his wife Maryam Sena and a number of his sons-in-law, he instead chose Yaqob, who was seven when he came to the throne, with Ras Antenatewos of Begemder as his regent. Za Dengel and the other rival for the throne – Susenyos , the son of Abeto Fasilides – were exiled, but Za Dengel escaped to

78-500: A Roman, by whom he had three sons, one of whom had died before the Battle of Gol. Nazarena sent her surviving sons to safety in exile: Cosmas, the older, went south and was not heard of again; the younger, Saga Krestos , went to the safety of the Kingdom of Sennar where he was treated well and came of age. When King Rabat proposed that Saga Krestos marry his daughter, Saga Krestos refused, and

117-476: A child, or one of the incarcerated princes, who could only successfully leave their prisons with help from the outside. As a result, by the mid-18th century the power of the emperor had been largely transferred to his deputies, like Ras Mikael Sehul of Tigray ( c.  1691 – 1779), who held actual power in the empire and elevated or deposed emperors at will. The emperors of Ethiopia derived their right to rule based on two dynastic claims: their descent from

156-496: A description of Pakenham's visit to Saga Krestos' grave in Rueil-Malmaison . However, O. G. S. Crawford has cast doubts on this story. In an article that discusses the surviving sources for the story of Saga Krestos, he points out a number of problems in his story which include a discrepancy over the possible date of his birth (i.e., Saga Krestos is likely to have been born in either 1610 or 1616, whereas Yaqob died in 1607), and

195-450: A revolt in Gojjam. Za Dengel marched to the plain of Bartcho to put down this revolt, but despite the help of 200 Portuguese musketeers Za Dengel perished in battle on 24 October. According to James Bruce , Za Dengel's corpse lay unclaimed on the battlefield for three days, until some peasants buried it "in a little building, like a chapel (which I have seen), not above six feet high, under

234-572: The Second Italo-Ethiopian War . Italian successes in the war caused the emperor Haile Selassie to be voted into exile by his nobles in 1936; he pled Ethiopia's case against Italy before the League of Nations , but aid from the League was not forthcoming. Italy added Ethiopia to its already existing colonies of Eritrea and Italian Somalia, creating the new dependent state of Italian East Africa and

273-699: The ' Zemene Mesafint ' (Era of the Princes). Emperor Yohannes IV defeated an invading Egyptian army in modern day Eritrea and died while working to address the situation regarding the Mahdist presence in Ethiopia. Emperor Menelik II achieved a major military victory against Italian invaders in March 1896 at the Battle of Adwa and conquered the modern borders of Ethiopia. Italy under Benito Mussolini attacked Ethiopia in 1935, starting

312-478: The 10th-century queen Yodit or " Gudit ", who then isolated 200 princes there to death; however, Pakenham also notes that when questioned, the abbot of the monastery on Debre Damo knew of no such tale. Taddesse Tamrat argues that this practice began in the reign of Wedem Arad (1299–1314), following the struggle for succession that he believes lies behind the series of brief reigns of the sons of Yagbe'u Seyon (reigned 1285–1294). A constructivist approach states that

351-536: The 13th century until the abolition of the monarchy in 1975. The emperor was the head of state and head of government , with ultimate executive , judicial and legislative power in that country. A National Geographic article from 1965 called Imperial Ethiopia "nominally a constitutional monarchy ; in fact it was a benevolent autocracy ". The title " King of Kings ", often rendered imprecisely in English as " emperor ", dates back to ancient Mesopotamia , but

390-537: The Emperor's derision caused Za Sellase to defect to Susenyos. For several days, the armies of the two rival emperors maneuvered in the mountains of Gojjam , to at last meet in the Battle of Gol 10 March 1607, where Yaqob and the Coptic Archbishop Abuna Petros II were killed in battle, and his troops slaughtered. According to Zaga Christ, Yaqob had married some years before a foreigner named Nazarena

429-558: The Shewan Branch (junior only to the Gondar line), ascended the imperial throne following Emperor Yohannes IV's death and thus, purporting to restore the male-line Solomonic tradition, for which he adopted the throne name of Menelik II. The Emperor Tewodros spent his youth fighting with invading Ottoman Egyptians (termed 'Turks' by the Ethiopians), then unifying the empire after the dark age of

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468-518: The aforementioned emperor's daughters. After Emperor Tewodros' reign, one of the many rebels leaders that helped the British in their expedition into Abyssinia was Dejazmatch Kassa, he was rewarded with articles of war for his services and went on to assume power through his claim of Solomonic descent from his mothers Gondarian ancestry and was crowned Emperor Yohannes IV . Sahle Maryam of Shewa, who descended from Solomonic emperors directly paternally through

507-586: The civil war that would likely follow his death an adult would be needed, and the emperor's own sons were quite young. These plans were changed primarily through the influence of Empress Sena Maryam, stepmother of Emperor's eldest surviving son Prince Yaqob , who was made emperor in 1597. The empress had Za Dengel seized and confined in a religious retreat on the island of Dek in Lake Tana . Za Dengel eventually managed to escape, taking refuge in Gojjam . In 1603, Za Dengel

546-498: The color, which in Europe is reckoned unbecoming, he would not have been inferior to the finest men among us.'" Za Dengel may have been married to Woizero Wangelawit, eldest daughter of his second cousin Susenyos (later emperor) and lady Wolde Saala of Walaqa and Marabete (later Empress Sultan Mogassa). Sarsa Dengel had intended to make his nephew as his heir, recognizing that to avert

585-527: The direct lineage of one royal family in favor of another. The system developed two approaches to controlling the succession: the first involved the selection of emperors by a council of vassal regional royals and powerful clergy members from throughout the country who supported their claim to the Imperial throne; the combined military and religious strength would use their influence to contain and put down any competing claims. The second involved interning all of

624-598: The distaff side. The claim of descent from Menelik I is based on the assertion that the kings of Axum were also the descendants of Menelik I; its definitive and best-known formulation is set forth in the Kebra Nagast . However, there is no historical evidence supporting the legends or Yekuno Amlak's ancestry. There is no credible basis to the claims that the Aksumite royal house was descended from Solomon (or that any Aksumite king even claimed such an ancestry) or that Yekuno Amlak

663-523: The dynasty of Menelik I, son of Queen of Ethiopia, the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon of Jerusalem". The Solomonic dynasty , which claimed descent from the old Aksumite rulers, ruled Ethiopia from the 13th century until 1974. The Amhara warrior turned emperor, Kassa of Qwara , Gonder , in 1855 took complete control over Ethiopia and was crowned Emperor Tewodros II . Of the valley nobility, he claimed paternal descent from Emperor Fasilides, by way of one of

702-538: The emperor's possible rivals in a secure location, which drastically limited their ability to disrupt the empire with revolts or to dispute the succession of an heir apparent . Ethiopian traditions do not all agree as to exactly when the custom started of imprisoning rivals to the throne on a "Mountain of the Princes". One tradition credits this practice to the Zagwe king Yemrehana Krestos (fl. 11th century), who allegedly received

741-415: The gubernatorial vassals of Gojjam (who ranked 12th in the states non-dynastic protocol as per 1690), Welega , the seaward provinces and later Shewa , received the honorific title of nəgus , a word for "king." The consort of the emperor was referred to as the ətege . Empress Zewditu used the feminized form nəgəstä nägäst ("Queen of Kings") to show that she reigned in her own right, and did not use

780-448: The idea in a dream; Taddesse Tamrat discredits this tradition, arguing that the records of the Zagwe dynasty betray too many disputed successions for this to have been the case. Another tradition, recorded by historian Thomas Pakenham , states that this practice predates the Zagwe dynasty (which ruled from c.  900 AD ), and was first practiced on Debre Damo , which was captured by

819-524: The kings of Axum , and their descent from Menelik I , the legendary son of Solomon and Makeda, Queen of Sheba . The claim to their relationship to the Kings of Axum derives from Yakuno Amlak's claim that he was the descendant of Dil Na'od , through his father, although he defeated and killed the last Zagwe king in battle. His claim to the throne was also helped by his marriage to that king's daughter, even though Ethiopians commonly do not acknowledge claims from

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858-474: The kings of Aksum and the new Solomonic dynasty is highly improbable and unsupported by evidence. It is a myth. Although the story originated as a medieval political myth, it nevertheless became embedded in the Ethiopian sense of nationhood. This and the dynasty's continued propagation of the myth was reflected in the 1955 Ethiopian constitution , which declared that the emperor "descends without interruption from

897-550: The mountains around Lake Tana , while Susenyos found refuge in the south amongst the Oromo . When Yaqob came to adulthood six years later, he quarrelled with Ras Antenatewos, and had him replaced with Ras Za Sellase . However, Za Sellase deposed Yaqob, exiling him to Ennarea , and made his cousin Za Dengel Emperor. When Za Dengel proved more troublesome than Yaqob, Za Sellase recalled Yaqob from exile. Not long after Za Dengel

936-550: The mountains of Amhara. This lack of resolve convinced Ras Antenatewos to waver in his support, and as the rainy season passed Za Sellase began to negotiate his submission to Susenyos. At this moment Yaqob revealed himself in Dembiya and both Ras Antenatewos and Za Sellase flocked to his side. Susenyos managed to first surprise and decimate the forces of Za Sellase at Manta Dafar in Begemder ; when Za Sellase escaped to Yaqob's camp,

975-685: The shade of a very fine tree, in Abyssinia called sassa." The body was reinterred 10 years later in Daga Estifanos monastery on Daga Island in Lake Tana. Emperor of Ethiopia The emperor of Ethiopia ( Ge'ez : ንጉሠ ነገሥት , romanized:  nəgusä nägäst , " King of Kings "), also known as the Atse ( Amharic : ዐፄ , "emperor"), was the hereditary ruler of the Ethiopian Empire , from at least

1014-923: The side of the Axis Powers in World War II , the African part of the British Empire aided Haile Selassie and anti-Italian Ethiopian forces in the East African campaign . Italy was defeated and Selassie restored to the throne, with most combat in Ethiopia ending in 1941. The Armistice of Cassibile was signed in September 1943 with the Kingdom of Italy's surrender, and Victor Emmanuel III officially renounced his title as emperor of Ethiopia in November 1943. In January 1942, Haile Selassie

1053-534: The site was destroyed in 1540 during the Ethiopian-Adal war ; then, from the reign of Fasilides (1632–1667) until the mid-18th century, at Wehni . Rumors of these royal mountain residences were part of the inspiration for Samuel Johnson 's short story, Rasselas . Although the emperor of Ethiopia had theoretically unlimited power over his subjects, his councillors came to play an increasing role in governing Ethiopia, because many emperors were succeeded either by

1092-509: The story of three Ethiopian monks who report that Saga Krestos was an apostate monk who wandered from place to place begging for money. Za Dengel Za Dengel ( Ge'ez : ዘድንግል; died 24 October 1604), throne name Atsnaf Sagad II (Ge'ez: አጽናፍ ሰገድ) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1603 until his death in 1604. He was a member of the Solomonic dynasty and one of only two Catholic emperors in Ethiopian history. Of Amhara lineage, Za Dengel

1131-501: The throne to Selassie's son Amha Selassie , who – understandably mistrustful of the Derg – refused to return to Ethiopia to rule. The Derg abolished the monarchy on 21 March 1975. In April 1989, Amha Selassie was proclaimed emperor in exile at London, with his succession backdated to the date of Haile Selassie's death in August 1975 rather than his deposition in September 1974. In 1993 a group called

1170-419: The title of ətege . On the death of a monarch any male or female descendant of the various dynastic lines could claim succession to the throne. Though in many cases the practice favoured primogeniture for at least one subsequent succession to the imperial throne, it often, as in the case of Emperor Yohannes IV of Tigray's claim to the throne after the death of Emperor Tewodros II from Gondar , would leave

1209-427: The tradition was used on occasion, weakened or lapsed sometimes, and was sometimes revived to full effect after some unfortunate disputes – and that the custom started in time immemorial as Ethiopian common inheritance patterns allowed all agnates to also succeed to the lands of the monarchy – which however is contrary to keeping the country undivided. The potential royal rivals were incarcerated at Amba Geshen until

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1248-488: Was defeated and killed in battle, Susenyos marched north at the head of an army raised amongst the Oromo , and sent a message to Ras Antenatewos proclaiming himself as emperor and demanding support from Antenatewos. Unable to communicate with Za Sellase, the Ras sent his troops to support Susenyos. A similar message to Za Sellase only served to steel Za Sellase into action: he marched on Susenyos, who, sick from fever, retreated into

1287-474: Was descended from the Aksumite royal house. Solomon is dated to the 10th century BCE, hundreds of years before the founding of Aksum. Historian Harold G. Marcus describes the stories of the Kebra Nagast as a "pastiche of legends" created to legitimize Yekuno Amlak's seizure of power. David Northrup notes that the Kebra Nagast's imaginative and emotive account of a line of descent from Solomon and Sheba to

1326-404: Was forced to flee to another refuge, adopting Roman Catholicism while at Jerusalem . Eventually he found his way to Rome (1632), and eventually to Paris , where he was given lodgings by Cardinal Richelieu . Saga Krestos died of pleurisy in 1638 at the age of 38. Thomas Pakenham provides a brief sketch of Saga Krestos' European life in his The Mountains of Rasselas , and the book ends with

1365-473: Was made Emperor by Ras Za Sellase , who intended Za Dengel to be little more than a figurehead. He was crowned as Asnaf Segad ('He to whom the horizons bow'). However, Za Dengel summoned the Jesuit Pedro Páez to his court at Dankaz , who persuaded him to embrace Catholicism . This religious conversion led to Za Sellase not only withdrawing his support, but actively working against him and stirred up

1404-510: Was officially reinstated to power in Ethiopia. The position of the emperor and the line of succession were strictly defined in both of the constitutions adopted during the reign of Selassie: the one adopted on July 16, 1931 ; and the revised one of November 1955 . Haile Selassie was the last Solomonic monarch to rule Ethiopia. He was deposed by the Derg , the committee of lower-ranking military and police officials on September 12, 1974. The Derg offered

1443-647: Was the first to associate Ethiopia as part of the Horn of Africa . On 9 May 1936, King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy proclaimed himself emperor of Ethiopia, replacing Haile Selassie. Victor Emmanuel's claim to emperorship was not entirely accepted, with the Soviet Union never considering the Italian conquest legitimate, and Haile Selassie continuing to contest the occupation from exile in the United Kingdom. With Italy's entry on

1482-454: Was the son of Lesana Krestos ; brother of Emperor Sarsa Dengel . The Spanish Jesuit Pedro Paez , who lived in Ethiopia , described the Emperor's appearance during their meeting as follows: "He seemed to be about 26 years of age, tall, well-shaped, and manly. His eyes were large and beautiful, and his nose was sharp. His lips were thin, but his complexion was somewhat tawny; and were it not for

1521-672: Was used in Axum by King Sembrouthes ( c.  250 AD ). However, Yuri Kobishchanov dates this usage to the period following the Persian victory over the Romans in 296–297. The most notable pre-Solomonic usage of the title "Negusa Nagast" was by Ezana of Axum; despite this, prior to the beginning of the Solomonic Dynasty , most Axumite and Zagwe rulers went by negus . Its use meant that both subordinate officials and tributary rulers, notably

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