Claudius (Ethiopia)

Claudius or Gelawdewos ( Amharic ገላውዴዎስ, throne name Asnaf Sagad I , "before whom the peaks bow down"; * 1521/1522; † March 23, 1559 ) was Negus Negest ( emperor ) from September 3, 1540 to March 23, 1559 of Ethiopia and a member of the Solomonic Dynasty . He was a younger son of Dawit II and Sabla Wengel .

Life

His rule was marked by the fight with Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghasi , until he was defeated on February 21, 1543 in the Battle of Wayna Daga and died. Claudius devoted a lot of time and energy to rallying his people against Ahmad. His chronicler sees this doggedness as the reason why the changes that Ahmad had forced to do not lasted. With Ahmad's death, Gelawdewos succeeded in driving the leaderless Muslim forces not only from the Ethiopian highlands , but also from Bale .

Later, when he was about to take action against the Agau in Gojjam , Nur ibn Mujahid penetrated Ethiopia again. Claudius responded and captured Harer , where the last member of the Walashma dynasty , the Sultan Barakat ibn Umar Din of Adal , was killed.

Jesuit missionaries came to his kingdom and tried to convert Ethiopia to Catholicism . In response to their arguments, Claudius wrote his Confessio (self- confession ) in which he defended the monophysitism of his Ethiopian church .

Under his rule, the Ottoman Empire conquered the city of Massaua in 1557 and thus severely impaired Ethiopia's connection to the rest of the world. From then on, dignitaries and missionaries had to travel in disguise to avoid the Muslim rulers. This also allowed the Ottomans to hinder or prevent the import of firearms into Ethiopia.

Claudius was killed on March 23, 1559 when he faced another invasion of Nur.

Remarks

↑ Remedius Proutky states that Gelawdewos had a son, Na'od, who does not appear in his Royal Chronicle . JH Arrowsmith-Brown (Translator and Editor): Prutky's Travels to Ethiopia and Other Countries . Hakluyt Society (London 1991), p. 112 and annotation.

literature

Richard KP Pankhurst: The Ethiopian Royal Chronicles . Oxford University Press (Addis Ababa 1967).
J. Perruchon: Vie de Lalibala, roi d'éthiopie: texte éthiopien et traduction française . Paris 1892. ( Online edition in Gallica of the "Bibliothèque nationale française")

Web links

Publications by and about Claudius in VD 17 .

predecessor	Office	successor
David II	Emperor of Ethiopia 1540 - 1559	Minas

personal data
SURNAME	Claudius
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Gelawdewos; Asnaf Sagad I (throne name); before which the peaks bow
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Negus Negest (Emperor) of Ethiopia
DATE OF BIRTH	1521 or 1522
DATE OF DEATH	March 23, 1559

[1] Remedius Proutky states that Gelawdewos had a son, Na'od, who does not appear in his Royal Chronicle . JH Arrowsmith-Brown (Translator and Editor): Prutky's Travels to Ethiopia and Other Countries . Hakluyt Society (London 1991), p. 112 and annotation.