Iyasu II.

The bones of Mentewab, Iyasu II and Joas I kept in Kuskwam ( Gonder ).

Iyasu II. ( Ethiop . ኢያሱ, also Jesus II. , Throne name Alem Sagad ዓለም ሰገድ, "before whom the world bows") (* June 16, 1723 ; † June 26, 1755 ) was from September 19, 1730 to 26 June 1755 Negus Negest ( Emperor ) of Ethiopia . He came from the Gonder branch of the Solomonids dynasty and was the son of Emperor Asma Giyorgis and Empress Mentewab , who is also known by her baptismal name (Wolette or) Welete Giyorgis.

Life

The Empress Mentewab (also spelled Mentuab ) played an essential role in Iyasu's reign. Instead of settling for the title of regent after her underage son, whose reign she had taken over in Gonder from 1730, she had herself crowned as equal ruler. She was the first woman to be crowned in this way in Ethiopia. Empress Mentewab exercised considerable power in the empire, from the reign of her son through to that of her grandson.

Under Iyasu's rule, a Czech Franciscan named Remedius Prutky visited the kingdom and engaged Iyasu in discussions about religion and European politics. Thanks to their medical knowledge, Prutky and his Catholic companions were welcome guests. After a year they were forced to leave the country after complaints from the local clergy .

Despite Mentewab's advice, Iyasu turned out to be an unfit monarch. According to Paul Henze, Iyasu has been criticized for devoting too much time to amusements (he loved hunting) and spending too much capital on decorating the capital , employing foreign artisans and importing luxury goods, jewelry and mirrors from Europe. For his part, Prutky saw the cause of Iyasu's limited income in the actions of his mother: “Since the young emperor Jasu was only eight years old when he ascended the throne, his mother, the queen, had divided the provinces among the highest ministers in such a way that to At the time of my stay, the now over 30-year-old emperor found a shrunken treasury and barely had enough for ordinary expenses. ”Prutky adds that the emperor argued with his own sister about the income from Gojam during his stay in Ethiopia .

To get some respect, the Emperor Iyasu began a campaign against the Kingdom of Sennar , 1738 with a defeat in the Battle of the Dindar - River ended. An icon of Christ and a part of the Holy Cross , which were carried into battle, fell into the hands of the enemy and had to be ransomed for 8,000 ounces of gold.

In the time of Iyasu, the land was plagued by locusts twice and thousands of people died from an epidemic. When the Abuna Krestodoulas III. died, the state coffers did not have the money to find a new Abuna . According to Edward Ullendorff, his sphere of influence extended little beyond Begemder and Gojam . The Shoah and Lasta were merely loyal, while the long reign of the powerful Ras Mika'el had begun in Tigray .

Iyasu II resented his mother's romantic relationship with a young member of the imperial family. This got involved with Iyasu, the son of her former sister-in-law Romanework, who in turn was the sister of the emperor Bakaffa and on the paternal side in the male line descended from another cadet line of the Solomon dynasty. Mentewab's relationship with her late husband's much younger nephew was viewed as a major scandal. The young prince was despised as "Melmal Iyasu" or "Iyasu the endured". Three daughters resulted from this relationship, one of which, the beautiful Woizero Aster Iyasu, 1769, Ras Mikal Sehul took to her third husband. Iyasu II was very attached to his half-sisters, but was very resentful towards their father. Allegedly it was the emperor himself who commissioned the murder of his mother's lover. The prince was pushed off a rock near Lake Tana in 1742 .

In May 1755 the emperor fell seriously ill and died the following month. It was generally assumed that Melmal Iyasu's sister took revenge for the death of her brother and poisoned Iyasu II. When Empress Mentewab wanted to use funds from the treasury for the funeral, only a few dinars could be raised. Sadly because of these circumstances, she threatened to withdraw to her palace convent in Qusquam . However, a group of nobles convinced her to act as regent for her grandson Joas I.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cf. for example Otto A. Jäger: Miraculous healings in the representation of earlier Ethiopian miniature painting. In: Materia Medica Nordmark. Volume 20, No. 12, December 1968, pp. 653-671, here: p. 670.
2. ^ Paul B. Henze: Layers of Time . Palgrave, New York 2000, p. 106.
3. ^ JH Arrowsmith-Brown: Prutky's Travels in Ethiopia and other Countries . with comments by Richard Pankhurst. Hakluyt Society, London 1991, p. 306
4. ^ EA Wallis Budge: A History of Ethiopia: Nubia and Abyssinia . 1928. Anthropological Publications, Oosterhout 1970, pp. 454f.
5. ^ Edward Ullendorff : The Ethiopians: An Introduction to Country and People . 2nd edition, Oxford Press, London 1965, p. 81
6. ↑ Tekle Tsadik Mekuria: Ye Ityopia Tarik Ke Atse Libne Dingil Iske Atse Tewodros . ("History of Ethiopia from Emperor Lebna Dengel to Emperor Tewodros "). Birhanena Selam Printing Press.
7. ↑ The Royal Chronicles of his reign are partially translated into English by Richard KP Pankhurst: The Ethiopian Royal Chronicles . Oxford University Press, Addis Ababa 1967.

predecessor	Office	successor
Asma Sagad	Emperor of Ethiopia 1730 - 1755	Joas I.