Tewodros I.

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Tewodros I ( Ethiop . ቴዎድሮስ, also called Theodor I or Theodoros I , throne name Walde Ambasa ወልደ አምበሳ, German "son of the lion"; * probably before 1380; † 1414 ) was Negus Negest ( emperor ) of Ethiopia .

Tewodros I was the son of the Ethiopian Emperor David I and came from the Solomonic dynasty that had ruled Ethiopia since 1270 . After his father renounced the throne due to the intrigues of influential monks, Tewodros ascended the imperial throne in 1411.

Exact information about his reign is not available. He appears to have pursued a different policy than his predecessor and ignored the power of the clergy. In particular, he is said to have suspended the treaty of the Holy Covenant , which stipulated that a third of the state land belongs to the Church. Tewodros I is said to have represented the opinion that the wealth of the state should bring benefit to the whole people. He began to distribute the church goods among the poor of his empire.

Tewodros I died as early as 1414 fighting against Muslims on the Awash . He was buried in Merabete .

In the following centuries, for unknown reasons, his reign was considered to be the extraordinary heyday of the empire, which was also one of the reasons why Kassa Hailu took the name Theodor II when he came to power in 1855 .

Despite his anti-church policies, Tewodros I was later accepted into the ranks of the saints by the Ethiopian Church . This step was justified with his fear of God, his mercy for the poor and the fact that he was restricted to one wife, which was unusual at the time.

After the death of Tewodros I, his younger brother Isaac ascended the Ethiopian throne .

Remarks

  1. ↑ Due to the complicated transcription from Amharic, the spelling of Ethiopian proper names can be different in different publications.
  2. ↑ according to other statements 1413 to 1414.
  3. ^ Paul B. Henze: Layers of Time. A History of Ethiopia. Hurst, 2000, p. 68 ( online ).
  4. ↑ Local History in Ethiopia. (pdf (278KB)) The Nordic Africa Institute website, archived from the original on December 19, 2008 ; accessed on November 22, 2014 (English).
  5. ^ Paul B. Henze: Layers of Time. A History of Ethiopia. Hurst, 2000, p. 133 ( online ).
predecessor Office successor
David I. Emperor of Ethiopia
1411 - 1414 		Isaac
personal data
SURNAME Tewodros I.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Theodor I .; Theodoros I.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Negus Negest (Emperor) of Ethiopia
DATE OF BIRTH uncertain: before 1380
DATE OF DEATH 1414