Yohannes I (), also known as Yohannes the Righteous (Ge'ez: ጻድቁ ዮሐንስ),
throne name A'ilaf Sagad (Ge'ez: አእላፍ ሰገድ; 1640 – 19 July 1682) 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 1667 to 1682, and a member of the
Solomonic dynasty. He was the fourth son of
Fasilides.
Yohannes was appointed ''
nəgusä nägäst'' by a council of the senior dignitaries of the Empire, at the encouragement of the noble
Blattengeta Malka Krestos. The council then imprisoned the other sons of Fasilides on Mount
Wehni
Wehni () is the name of one of the mountains of Ethiopia where most of the male heirs to the Emperor of Ethiopia were interned, usually for life. It was the last of the three such mountains, or ''amba (geology), amba'', said to have been used for ...
, continuing the practice Fasilides had revived.
Ancestry
Yohannes was the eldest son of Emperor
Fasilides and succeeded him 1662.
Reign

According to
G.W.B. Huntingford
George Wynn Brereton Huntingford (19 November 1901 – 19 February 1978) was an English linguist, anthropologist and historian. He lectured in East African languages and cultures at SOAS, University of London from 1950 until 1966. , Yohannes spent much of his reign campaigning, stating that 6 of the 11 itineraries he reproduced were military expeditions. Three of these were against the
Agaw in
Gojjam, and
Agawmeder, one against the
Oromo, and two punitive expeditions to the area around Mount Ashgwagwa—
Angot and
Lasta—to quash the revolts of Feres (in 1677) and Za Maryam (1679).
On 15 July 1682, the ailing Emperor Yohannes I made
Iyasu I his successor in his final proclamation. The dignitaries witnessing this proclamation were the ''
Blattengeta''
Akala Krestos, ''
Dejazmach''
Anestasyos, Delba Iyasus, ''
Fitawrari''
Fesseha Krestos, ''Azazz'' Kanafero, ''
Basha'' Lesana Krestos and ''Azazz'' Za-Wald among others.
Emperor Yohannes died on 19 July and was buried at Teda.
Religion under Yohannes

Due to the violent religious controversy that
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
missionaries had caused in Ethiopia under the reign of his grandfather
Susenyos, Yohannes acted harshly towards
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
ans. In 1669, he directed ''
Gerazmach'' Mikael to expel all of the Catholics still living in Ethiopia; those who did not embrace the beliefs of the
Ethiopian Church were exiled to
Sennar. Six
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
s sent by
Pope Alexander VII to succeed in converting Ethiopia to Catholicism where the
Jesuits
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
had failed 30 years before, were executed during his reign. As a result, he favored
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...
visitors, whose beliefs also embraced
Miaphysitism, and were in harmony with the Ethiopian Church. These included
Khodja Murad, who undertook a number of diplomatic missions for the Emperor; and in 1679, the Emperor Yohannes received the Armenian bishop Yohannes, bearing a relic of
Ewostatewos
Ewostatewos (, ''ʾEwosṭātewos'', or ዮስጣቴዎስ, ''Yosṭātewos'', a version of ''Eustathios''; 22 July 1273 – 23 September 1352) was an Ethiopian religious leader of the Orthodox Tewahedo during the early period of the Solomonic d ...
.
The growing controversy over the
nature of Christ had grown severe enough that in the last year of his reign Yohannes called a
synod
A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...
to resolve the dispute. The
Ewostathian monks of
Gojjam advocated the formula "Through
Unction Christ the Son was
consubstantial with the Father", by which they came to be known as the ''
Qebat'' ("Unction") faction, who were supported by the Emperor's own son
Iyasu; they were opposed by the monks of
Debre Libanos, who at that time still advocated traditional
Miaphysitism. The outcome of the synod is in dispute: according to E.A. Wallis-Budge and
H. Weld Blundell, Emperor Yohannes was convinced to condemn the ''Qebat'' doctrine, which led to Iyasu attempting to flee his father's realm; but according to Crummey, Yohannes favored the Gojjame delegation for political reasons: at the time Gojjam was an important province. These decisions were revisited once Iyasu became Emperor, at a synod he called in 1686.
[Budge, pp. 406f, 410f; H. Weld Blundell, ''The Royal chronicle of Abyssinia, 1769-1840'' (Cambridge: University Press, 1922, p. 525; Donald Crummey, ''Priests and Politicians'', 1972 (Hollywood: Tsehai, 2007), p. 22.]
Family
Spouse
Sources mentions only
Sabla Wangel as the spouse of Emperor Yohannes I. She married Yohannes in October 1668 and likely gave birth to all (or almost all) of his offsprings. The marriage was dissolved in 1678 by the order of the
Abun of
Alexandria
Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
, on the grounds that it was
incestuous. Sabla Wangel's father was Gabra Maskal, the husband of Yohannes's paternal
aunt, and therefore Sabla Wangel was a
niece of Yohannes.
Nonetheless, the former empress is remembered as a ‘‘great
patroness of literature’’ who was knowledgeable about
theological books and supported the production of
manuscripts
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has c ...
. Sabla Wangel died on 13 January 1690 and was buried as a queen in the royal cemetery on the island of Mesrasha at
Lake Tana alongside Yohannes I.
[
]
Descendants
Emperor Yohannes I had 5 sons (four of whom were named in sources), and 2 daughters.[
* Yostos was his eldest son. He served as the governor of Semien. He died on 11 June 1676.]
* Iyasu the Great was his second son and successor.
* Tewoflos was his third son. Tewoflos reigned as Emperor between 1708 and 1711.
* Gelawdewos was his fourth son. Gelawdewos died after being struck by lightning
Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...
, and was buried on the island of Mesrasha on Lake Tana.
* Amlakawit was his eldest daughter. She married Basha Walda Giyorgis, a powerful retainer under Yohannes I. Amlakawit died young in 1669.
* Eleni his second daughter of Yohannes I; her mother is not named in the sources. She was one of the most influential woman of late 17th century Ethiopia. She died in 1708.
Notes
References
Further reading
* Richard K. P. Pankhurst. ''The Ethiopian Royal Chronicles''. Addis Ababa: Oxford University Press, 1967.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yohannes 01
1640s births
1682 deaths
17th-century emperors of Ethiopia
Solomonic dynasty
Year of birth uncertain