Frumentius | |
|---|---|
 Saint Frumentius | |
| Confessor Bishop of Axum Apostle to Ethiopia | |
| Born | 4th century Tyre, Phoenice, Byzantine Empire (modern-day Lebanon) |
| Died | c. 383 Kingdom of Aksum |
| Venerated in | Eastern Orthodox Church Oriental Orthodoxy Catholicism Anglican Communion |
| Feast |
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| Patronage | Kingdom of Aksum |
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Frumentius (Ge'ez: ፍሬምናጦስ; died c. 383) was a Phoenician Christian missionary and the first bishop of Axum who brought Christianity to the Kingdom of Aksum.[1] He is sometimes known by other names, such as Abuna ("Our Father") and Aba Salama ("Father of Peace").[2]
He was a native of Phoenicia, born in Tyre, modern day Lebanon.[3][4] As a boy, he was captured with his brother on a voyage, and they became slaves to the King of Axum. He freed them shortly before his death, and they were invited to educate his young heir. They also began to teach Christianity in the region. Later, Frumentius traveled to Alexandria, Egypt, where he appealed to have a bishop appointed and missionary priests sent south to Axum. Thereafter, he was appointed bishop and established the Church in Ethiopia, converting many local people, as well as the king. His appointment began a tradition that the Patriarch of Alexandria appoint the bishops of Ethiopia.[5]
- ^ Adejumobi, Saheed A. (2007). The History of Ethiopia. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 171. ISBN 978-0-313-32273-0.
- ^ Alban Butler; Paul Burns (1995). Butler's Lives of the Saints. A&C Black. p. 191. ISBN 0-86012-259-X.
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 11 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 270.
FRUMENTIUS (c. 300–c. 360), the founder of the Abyssinian church, traditionally identified in Abyssinian literature with Abba Salama or Father of Peace (but see Ethiopia), was a native of Phoenicia.
- ^
- Nabokov, Vladimir (1964). Notes on Prosody and Abram Gannibal. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. p. 127. ISBN 9781400875924.
the history of Abyssinia should be briefly recalled. The Gospel was introduced there about A.D. 327 by Frumentius (c. 290-c. 350), a native of Phoenicia, who was consecrated bishop of Aksum by Athanasius of Alexandria.
- Mullen, Roderic L. (2004). The Expansion of Christianity: A Gazetteer of Its First Three Centuries. Brill. p. 331. ISBN 978-90-47-40232-9.
Rufinus, Ecclesiastical History, 10.9-10, records the account of Aedesius and Frumentius, nephews of the Phoenician trader Meropius, who were kidnapped on the coast of "further India" in the time of Constantine and later raised at the royal court.
- Felshman, Jeffrey (1996). "Chapter 73: Gonder (Gonder, Ethiopia)". In Ring, Trudy; Watson, Noelle; Schellinger, Paul (eds.). Middle East and Africa International Dictionary of Historic Places. Vol. 4. Taylor & Francis. pp. 278–302. ISBN 9781134259939.
- Kebede, Ashenafi (Spring 1980). "The Sacred Chant of Ethiopian Monotheistic Churches: Music in Black Jewish and Christian Communities". The Black Perspective in Music. 8 (1): 21–34. doi:10.2307/1214519. JSTOR 1214519.
Frumentius, the first Ethiopian bishop, was a Phoenician.
- Nabokov, Vladimir (1964). Notes on Prosody and Abram Gannibal. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. p. 127. ISBN 9781400875924.
- ^ Stuart Munro-Hay (2002). Ethiopia, the Unknown Land. IB Tauris. p. 20.