Tewodros I (), throne name Walda Anbasa (Ge'ez: ወልደ ዐንበሳ; died 2 July 1414) was

Emperor of Ethiopia The emperor of Ethiopia (, "King of Kings"), also known as the Atse (, "emperor"), was the hereditary monarchy, hereditary ruler of the Ethiopian Empire, from at least the 13th century until the abolition of the monarchy in 1975. The emperor w ...

from 1413 to 1414, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the son of Dawit I by Queen Seyon Mangasha.

Reign

Despite the fact it only lasted nine months (from 12 October 1413 to 23 June 1414), Tewodros's reign acquired a connotation of being a golden age for Ethiopia. The explorer

James Bruce James Bruce of Kinnaird (14 December 1730 – 27 April 1794) was a Scottish traveller and travel writer who physically confirmed the source of the Blue Nile. He spent more than a dozen years in North and East Africa and in 1770 became the fir ...

later commented,

E. A. Wallis Budge Sir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge (27 July 185723 November 1934) was an English Egyptology, Egyptologist, Orientalism, Orientalist, and Philology, philologist who worked for the British Museum and published numerous works on the ancient ...

repeats the account of the ''Synaxarium'' that Emperor Tewodros was "a very religious man, and a great lover of religious literature". Budge adds that Tewodros wished to make a pilgrimage to

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, but was convinced not to make the journey by the

Abuna Abuna (or Abune, which is the status constructus form used when a name follows: Ge'ez አቡነ ''abuna''/''abune'', 'our father'; Amharic and Tigrinya) is the honorific title used for any bishop of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church as w ...

Mark, "who feared for his safety." Despite this, Budge notes that he annulled the agreement of his ancestor

Yekuno Amlak Yekuno Amlak (); throne name Tesfa Iyasus (; died 19 June 1285) was Emperor of Ethiopia, from 1270 to 1285, and the founder of the Solomonic dynasty, which lasted until 1974. He was a ruler from Bete Amhara (in parts of modern-day Wollo and ...

that granted a third of the country to the

Ethiopian Church The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church () is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Christian churches in Africa originating before European colonization of the continent, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church dates bac ...

. Tewodros died beyond the

Awash river } The Awash River (sometimes spelled Awaash; Oromo language, Oromo: ''Awaash OR Hawaas'', Amharic: ዐዋሽ, Afar language, Afar: ''Hawaash We'ayot'', Somali language, Somali: ''Webiga Dir'', Italian language, Italian: ''Auasc'') is a major river ...

Taddesse Tamrat Taddesse Tamrat (; 4 August 1935 – 23 May 2013) was an Ethiopian historian and scholar of Ethiopian studies. He is best known as the author of ''Church and State in Ethiopia 1270–1520'' (1972, Oxford University Press ), a book which has domi ...

suspects that chroniclers of this era tried to suppress the violent death of the Emperors. Tewodros supposedly fell in battle against the Adalites in

Adal Adal may refer to: *A short form for Germanic names in ''aþala-'' (Old High German ''adal-''), "nobility, pedigree"; see Othalan ** Adál Maldonado (1948–2020), Puerto Rican artist ** Adal Ramones (born 1969), Mexican television show host ** A ...

. He was first buried at the church of Tadbaba Maryam, but his nephew, Emperor

Baeda Maryam I Baeda Maryam I (; Bäˀəda Maryam, meaning "He who is in the hand of Mary"; 1448 – 8 November 1478), otherwise known as Cyriacus was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1468 to 1478, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. His reign was characterized by ...

had his body re-interred at Atronsa Maryam."Local History in Ethiopia"
The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 28 January 2008)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tewodros 01 Of Ethiopia Solomonic dynasty Emperors of Ethiopia 1414 deaths 15th-century monarchs in Africa 15th-century Ethiopian people Year of birth unknown