Do Not Search for Another King, One Whom God Has Not Given You

Questions on the Elevation of Zär'ä Ya'eqob (1434-1468)

Bibliographic Data

ID12622005
AuthorsMarie-Laure Derat (0000-0002-6890-5629, Institut des Mondes Africains, corresponding author)
Year2004
Volume8
Issue3
Pages210-228
Publication date2004-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Early Modern History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1385-3783 • E-ISSN: 1570-0658
PublisherBrill (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1163/1570065043123959
OpenAlexW2032060133
LanguageEN
Citations received2

When Zär'ä Ya'eqob became king of Ethiopia in 1434, he was far from being the only candidate for the office. One of his homilies, The Epistle of Humanity, relates that he was opposed by a group led by Beht wäddäd and former Tegré Mäkwanenn Isayeyyas, and including many members of his own family. This episode is essential to an understanding of the policy of Zär'ä Ya'eqob in the first years of his reign, when he tried to establish his authority in Tigré and especially in Aksum by means of a consecration ceremony, the foundation of monasteries, and the nomination of a liqä Aksum. The first version of the chronicle of Zär'ä Ya'eqob, however, scarcely mentions this episode while the second version totally conceals it. The different ways the homily and the royal chronicle deal with the beginning of Zär'ä Ya'eqob's reign inform us about Ethiopian royal historiography

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Ceremony · Confession (law · Consecration · Genealogy · Historiography · Homily · Humanity · Literature · Nomination · Political science · Politics · Reign · Theology · African history and culture analysis · Classics · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History · Law · Philosophy · Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology

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