Zara Yaqob

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Zara Yaqob bigraphy, stories - Emperor of Ethiopia

Zara Yaqob : biography

1399 – 1468

Zar’a Ya`qob or Zera Yacob (Ge’ez ዘርአ:ያዕቆብ zar’ā yāʿiqōb "Seed of Jacob," modern zer’a yā’iqōb) (1399–1468) was Emperor of Ethiopia (19 or 20 JuneGetachew Haile, "A Preliminary Investigation of the "Tomara Tesse’t" of Emperor Zar’a Ya’eqob of Ethiopia" in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 43, no. 2 (1980), p. 210. The beginning of what Getachew Haile believes is the "Ṭomarä Tesbe’t" states that he was crowned on 26 Sené (20 June), while a contemporary Stephanite writer ascribes a date of 25 Sené (19 June). Getachew Haile explains this discrepancy by suggesting that the ceremony lasted two days. 1434–1468) of Ethiopia (throne name Kwestantinos I Ge’ez ቈስታንቲኖስ qʷastāntīnōs or Constantine I), and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. Born at Tilq in the province of Fatagar (now part of the Oromia Region, near the Awash River), Zara Yaqob was the youngest son of Dawit I and his youngest queen, Igzi Kebra.

The British expert on Ethiopia, Edward Ullendorff, stated that Zara Yaqob "was unquestionably the greatest ruler Ethiopia had seen since Ezana, during the heyday of Aksumite power, and none of his successors on the throne – excepted only the emperors Menelik II and Haile Selassie – can be compared to him."Edward Ullendorff, The Ethiopians: An Introduction to the Country and People, second edition (London: Oxford University Press, 1960), p. 69. ISBN 0-19-285061-X.

Paul B. Henze repeats the tradition that the jealousy of his older brother Tewodros I forced the courtiers to take Zara Yaqob to Tigray where he was brought up in secret, and educated in Axum and at the monastery of Debre Abbay.Paul B. Henze, Layers of Time, A History of Ethiopia (New York: Palgrave, 2000), p. 68. ISBN 1-85065-522-7 While admitting that this tradition "is invaluable as providing a religious background for Zar’a-Ya’iqob’s career", Taddesse Tamrat dismisses this story as "very improbable in its details." The professor notes that Zara Yaqob wrote in his Mashafa Berhan that "he was brought down from the royal prison of Mount Gishan only on the eve of his accession to the throne."Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), p. 222 ISBN 0-19-821671-8

The Ethiopian church

At the time Zara Yaqob assumed the throne, the Ethiopian church had been divided over the issue of Biblical Sabbath observance for roughly a century. One group, loyal to the Coptic bishops, believed that the day of rest should be observed only on Sunday, or Great Sabbath; another group, the followers of Ewostatewos, believed with their founder that both the original seventh-day Sabbath (i.e., Saturday, or Lesser Sabbath) and Sunday should be observed.

He was successful in persuading two recently arrived Egyptian bishops, Mikael and Gabriel, into accepting a compromise aimed at restoring harmony with the House of Ewostatewos, as the followers of Ewostatewos were known. At the same time, he made efforts to pacify the House of Ewostatewos. While the Ewostathians were won over to the compromise by 1442, the two Egyptian bishops only agreed to the compromise at the Council of Debre Mitmaq in Tegulet (1450).Taddesse Tamrat, p. 230.

Emperor Zara Yaqob also continued as the defender of the Patriarch of Alexandria. When he heard in 1441 of the destruction of the Egyptian monastery of Dabra Mitmaq by Sultan Jaqmaq, he called for a period of mourning, then sent a letter of strong protest to the Sultan. He reminded Jaqmaq that he had Muslim subjects whom he treated fairly, and warned that he had the power to divert the Nile, but refrained from doing so for the human suffering it would cause. Jaqmaq responded with gifts to appease Zara Yaqob’s anger, but refused to rebuild the Coptic Churches he had destroyed.Taddesse Tamrat, pp. 262-3

According to Richard Pankhurst the Emperor was also "reputedly an author of renown", having contributed to Ethiopian literature as many as three important theological works. One was Mahsafa Berha ("The Book of Light"), an exposition of his ecclesiastical reforms and a defence of his religious beliefs; the others were Mahsafa Milad ("The Book of Nativity") and Mahsafa Selassie ("The Book of the Trinity").Richard Pankhurst, The Ethiopians: A History (Oxford: Blackwell, 2001), p. 85. Edward Ullendorff, however, attributes to him only the Mahsafa Berha and Mahsafa Milad.