Woizero Zenebework was the wife of

Wossen Seged Wossen Seged (ruled c. 1808 – June 1813) was a ''Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Important regional offices, Merid Azmach'' of Shewa, an Amhara people, Amhara noble of Ethiopia. He was the elder son of Asfaw Wossen (ruler of Shewa), ...

, Merid Azmach of

Shewa Shewa (; ; Somali: Shawa; , ), formerly romanized as Shua, Shoa, Showa, Shuwa, is a historical region of Ethiopia which was formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire. The modern Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa is located at it ...

; the mother of

Negus ''Negus'' is the word for "king" in the Ethiopian Semitic languages and a Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, title which was usually bestowed upon a regional ruler by the Ethiopian Emperor, Negusa Nagast, or "king of kings," in pre-1974 Et ...

Sahle Selassie Sahle Selassie (Amharic: ሣህለ ሥላሴ, 1795 – 22 October 1847) was the Negus, King of Shewa from 1813 to 1847. An important Amhara people, Amhara noble of Ethiopia, he was a younger son of Wossen Seged. Sahle Selassie was the father of ...

, the first

of Shewa; the grandmother of Negus

Haile Melekot Hailemelekot Sahle Selassie (1824 – 9 November 1855) was ''Negus'' of Shewa, a historical region of Ethiopia, from 12 October 1847 until his death. He was the oldest son of ''Negus'' Sahle Selassie an important Amhara nobleman and his wife ...

of Shewa; and the great-grandmother of Emperor

Menelik II Menelik II ( ; horse name Aba Dagnew (Amharic: አባ ዳኘው ''abba daññäw''); 17 August 1844 – 12 December 1913), baptised as Sahle Maryam (ሣህለ ማርያም ''sahlä maryam'') was king of Shewa from 1866 to 1889 and Emperor of Et ...

. Woizero Zenebework held the powerful districts of

Menz Menz or Manz (, romanized: ''Mänz'') is a former Subdivisions of Ethiopia, subdivision of Ethiopia, located inside the boundaries of the modern Semien Shewa Zone (Amhara), Semien Shewa Zone of the Amhara Region. William Cornwallis Harris describe ...

and

Tegulet Termaber (var. Tarmaber; Amharic: ጠርማበር) is a woreda in Amhara Region, Ethiopia. It includes a homonymous mountain pass and road tunnel. Located at the eastern edge of the Ethiopian Highlands in the Semien Shewa Zone, Termaber is border ...

as her personal fiefs. Zenebework was the most powerful woman in Shewa during the reigns of her husband, son and grandson. Despite the efforts of Sahle Selassie to resolve the ongoing theological disputes that affected 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 ...

in Shewa, she intervened on behalf of the ''Sost Lidat'', which led to an edict on 24 November 1841 which purged all of the clergy who did not embrace that view on the nature of Christ.Donald Crummey, ''Priests and Politicians'', 1972 (Hollywood: Tsehai, 2007), pp. 50f She joined her daughter-in-law

Bezabish Woizero Bezabish Wolde (died 1870s) was the wife of Sahle Selassie, Negus of Shewa, mother of King Haile Melekot of Shewa, and grandmother of Emperor Menelik II. She held the districts of Bulga and Yifat as her personal fiefs. Bezabish would be ...

in betraying her grandson Haile Melekot by submitting to Emperor

Tewodros II Tewodros II (, once referred to by the English cognate Theodore; baptized as Kassa, – 13 April 1868) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1855 until his death in 1868. His rule is often placed as the beginning of modern Ethiopia and brought an end to ...

of Ethiopia when he invaded Shewa in 1855 to forcefully re-incorporate it into the Empire.

Notes

19th-century Ethiopian people 19th-century Ethiopian women Rulers of Shewa {{Ethiopia-bio-stub