Iyasu II
Iyasu II ኢያሱ | |
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Coptic Orthodox |
Iyasu II (
The Empress Mentewab played a major role in Iyasu's reign, perhaps against her will. Shortly after he was proclaimed Emperor, a rival claimant assaulted the
Ancestry
Of Amhara descent, Iyasu II was only son of Emperor Bakaffa and Mentewab.[5][6]
Iyasu had two sisters, one married Takle of
Reign
During Iyasu II's reign, a
Despite Mentewab's counsel, Iyasu proved to be an ineffectual monarch. Frequently, Iyasu engaged in hunting expeditions, near
In a bid to gain the respect of his subjects, the Emperor Iyasu engaged in a campaign against the
During his reign two infestations of locusts afflicted the land, and an epidemic took the lives of thousands. When Abuna Krestodolos died, the treasury lacked money to pay for procurement of a new abuna. According to Edward Ullendorff, Iyasu's authority "scarcely extended beyond Begemder and Gojjam; Shoa and Lasta acknowledged only a token allegiance, while in the Tigray the long rule of the powerful Ras Mika'el had begun."[12]
Iyasu II also conferred the dignity of Kantiba of the Habab (Nakfa and Sahel areas of present-day Eritrea) to Habtes, of the Bet Asegede family, after the latter came to Gondar to pay homage. As insignias of this appointment Habtes received a negarit, jewellery and other gifts.[13][14]
Emperor Iyasu also resented deeply the romantic liaison his mother entered into with a young member of the Imperial family. Empress Mentewab became involved with Iyasu, the son of her former sister-in-law Romanework, who was herself the sister of the late Emperor Bakaffa, and on her father's side descended in male line from another cadet line of the Solomonic dynasty. Mentewab's relationship with the much younger nephew of her late husband was considered a great scandal, and the young Prince was derisively referred to as "Melmal Iyasu", or "Iyasu the Kept". The Empress had three daughters by this Melmal Iyasu, one of whom was the beautiful Woizero Aster Iyasu who took Ras Mikael Sehul in 1769 as her third husband. Emperor Iyasu became very attached to his half-sisters, but was deeply resentful of their father. It is said that it was the Emperor himself that ordered the murder of his mother's lover by having him pushed from a cliff top near Lake Tana in 1742.[15]
Death
Iyasu fell seriously ill in May, 1755, and died the next month. It was generally believed that he had been poisoned by the sister of Melmal Iyasu, in revenge for her brother's death. When the Empress Mentewab sought funds from the treasury for his funeral, only a few
Family
First marriage and descendants
Iyasu II had two wives. The first Amhara woman, with whom he had three sons named Adigo, Hailu and Atseku and one daughter Wald Saala. This woman wished to take part in the government of Ethiopia and as a result she and her sons were sent to the fortress of Wanhi on the orders of Mentewab.[1][5]
● Adigo was his Iyasu's firstborn son. Adigo's son, Salomon II reigned as Emperor between 1777 and 1779 during the turbulent Zemene Mesafint era. Salomon's son, Baeda Maryam II was briefly on the throne for a few months in 1795.[5]
● Hailu[note 1] was his second son.[5]
● Atseku was his third son. Atseku's son, Iyasu III reigned as Emperor between 1784 and 1788[5]
● Wald Saala was Iyasu's first daughter.[5]
Second marriage and descendants
Mentewab wished to make an alliance with the "Galla" people (Oromo people) and as such chose a second wife for Iyasu II who was from "Galla land".[1] The second wife was a daughter of Amitzo, a member of the Edjaw tribe.[1] The wife was christened "Bersabeh" and had a son who later succeeded Iyasu II as Iyoas I.[1]
Notes
References
- ^ New York: Routledge. p. 459.
- ^ 12 Teqemt 7216 Year of the World. Bosc-Tiessé, Claire, "'How Beautiful She Is!' in Her Mirror: Polysemic Images and Reflections of Power of an Eighteenth-Century Ethiopia Queen", Journal of Early Modern History, 2004, Vol. 8 Issue 3/4, p. 294
- Richard Pankhurst, "An Eighteenth Century Ethiopian Dynastic Marriage Contract between Empress Mentewwab of Gondar and Ras Mika'el Sehul of Tegre," in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 1979, p. 458.
- ^ Donald N. Levine, Wax and Gold: Tradition and Innovation in Ethiopian Culture (Chicago: University Press, 1965), p. 24. Details from Remedius Prutky's account in J.H. Arrowsmith-Brown (trans.), Prutky's Travels in Ethiopia and other Countries with notes by Richard Pankhurst (London: Hakluyt Society, 1991), pp. 173f
- ^ OCLC 1015115240.
- OCLC 1036909730.
- ^ Solomon Gebreyes Beyene, "Chronicler of Iyasu II", in: D. Thomas and J. Cherworth (eds.) Christian-Muslim Relation: A Bibliographical History, Asia, Africa and the Americas (1700-1800),789-793, Leiden and Bostorn, Brill, 2018, p. 792
- ^ Paul B. Henze, Layers of Time (New York: Palgrave, 2000), p. 106
- ^ Prutky's Travels, p. 306
- ^ E. A. Wallis Budge, A History of Ethiopia: Nubia and Abyssinia, 1928 (Oosterhout, the Netherlands: Anthropological Publications, 1970), pp. 454f.
- ^ Levine, Wax and Gold, p. 24
- ^ Edward Ullendorff, The Ethiopians: An Introduction to Country and People, second edition (London: Oxford Press, 1965), p. 81
- ^ Anthony d'AVRAY, Lords of the Red Sea: The History of a Red Sea Society from the Sixteenth to Nineteenth century, Harrasowitz Verlag, p. 50
- ^ Anthony d'AVRAY, Richard Pankhurst, The Nakfa Documents, Harrasowitz Verlag, p. 12
- Lebna Dengel to Emperor Tewodros") (Birhanena Selam Printing Press)
- ^ The Royal Chronicle of his reign is translated in part by Richard K. P. Pankhurst, The Ethiopian Royal Chronicles (Addis Ababa: Oxford University Press, 1967).