Gelawdewos of Ethiopia

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Gelawdewos (Ge'ez ገላውዴዎስ galāwdēwōs, Amh. gelāwdēwōs, "Claudius"; 1521/1522 - March 23, 1559) was nəgusä nägäst (throne name Asnaf Sagad I (Ge'ez አጽናፍ ሰገደ aṣnāf sagad, Amh. āṣnāf seged, "to whom the peaks bow"; September 3, 1540 - March 23, 1559) of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was a younger son of Dawit II by Sabla Wengel.^[1]

His reign was dominated by the struggle with Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi, until Ahmad's defeat and death in the Battle of Wayna Daga on February 21, 1543. Gelawdewos devoted time and energy to rallying his people against Ahmad, a determination his chronicler credits prevented Ahmad's forcible conversions from being permanent. With Ahmad's death, Gelawdewos was not only able to eject the leaderless Muslim forces from the Ethiopian highlands, but also from Bale.

However, while campaigning against the Agaw in Gojjam later in his campaign, Nur ibn Mujahid once again invaded Ethiopia. Gelawdewos responded, at one point capturing Harar, where Sultan Barakat ibn Umar Din of Adal was killed, the last member of the Walasma dynasty.

Jesuit missionaries arrived in his realm, attempting to convert Ethiopia to Catholicism. In response to their arguments, he wrote his Confession, which defended the Monophysite doctrine of his Ethiopian Church.

Ethiopia's access to the outside world was severely crippled during his reign in 1557, when the Ottoman Empire conquered Massawa. From that point forward, dignitaries and missionaries to Ethiopia had to travel in disguise to avoid Muslim authorities. This also allowed the Ottomans to block the Ethiopians from importing firearms.

He was killed responding to another invasion by Nur on March 23, 1559.

[edit] Notes

^ Remedius Proutky states that Gelawdewos had a son, Na'od; this son is not mentioned in his Royal Chronicle. J.H. Arrowsmith-Brown, translator and editor, Prutky's Travels to Ethiopia and Other Countries (London: Hakluyt Society, 1991), p. 112 and note.

[edit] Further reading

Richard K. P. Pankhurst. The Ethiopian Royal Chronicles. Addis Ababa: Oxford University Press, 1967.
J. Perruchon. Vie de Lalibala, roi d'éthiopie: texte éthiopien et traduction française. Paris 1892. (Online version in Gallica website at the "Bibliothèque National Française")