Susenyos I

Susenyos I
ቀዳማዊ ዓፄ ሱስንዮስ
Negusa Nagast
Contemporary portrait of King Susenyos I of Ethiopia receiving the Latin Patriarch Afonso Mendes
Emperor of Ethiopia
Reign1607–1632
Coronation18 March 1608[1]
PredecessorYaqob
SuccessorFasilides
Born1571,[2] 1572,[3] or 1575[4]
Gojjam, Ethiopian Empire
Died17 September 1632(1632-09-17) (aged 59–60)
Dangaz, Ethiopian Empire[5]
Burial
Church of Ganata Iyasus, Azazo[5]
ConsortWaled Sa'ala[6]
IssueKanafra Krestos[6]
Fasilides[6]
Claudius[6]
Markos[6]
Wangelawit[6]
Malakotawit[6]
Galilawit[6]
Names
Sisinios, Sisinnius, Socinios,[3] Sociniós,[3] Socinius,[3] Sousnyos[3] Susənyos, Susénius,[3] Susenyos,[4] Sūsĕnyōs,[3] Susinyos,[3] Susneus[3] or Susneyos[2]
Regnal name
Seltan Sagad and Malak Sagad III
DynastyHouse of Solomon
Religion
This article contains Ethiopic text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Ethiopic characters.
Ruins of Susenyos Palace

Susenyos I (Ge'ez: ሱስንዮስ Sūsinyōs; c. 1571–1575[note 1] – 17 September 1632), also known as Susenyos the Catholic, was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1607 to 1632, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. His throne names were Seltan Sagad and Malak Sagad III.[note 2]

He was the son of Abeto Fasil, as well as the grandson of Abeto Yakob and the great-grandson of Dawit II. As a result, while some authorities list Susenyos as a member of the Solomonic dynasty, others consider him—rather than his son, Fasilides—as the founder of the Gondar line of the dynasty (which is, however, ultimately a subset of the Solomonic dynasty).

The life of Susenyos is known through his chronicle, written by several official writers (sehafe te’ezaz). The Jesuits, who were closely associated with Susenyos’s reign, also left numerous documents on their mission in Ethiopia.[4]

Manuel de Almeida, a Portuguese Jesuit who lived in Ethiopia during Susenyos reign, described the emperor as "tall with the features of a man of quality, large handsome eyes, and an ample and well groomed beard. He wore a tunic of crimson velvet down to the knee, breeches of the Moorish style, a sash or girdle of many large pieces of fine gold, and an outer coat of damask of the same colour, like a capelhar."[7]

  1. ^ Budge, E. A. Wallis (1928). A History of Ethiopia: Nubia and Abyssinia (Volume 2). London: Methuen & Co. p. 385.
  2. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Africanbio131 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cite error: The named reference Budge383 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference African468 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Burke46 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Budge, E. A. Wallis (1928). A History of Ethiopia: Nubia and Abyssinia (Volume 2). London: Methuen & Co. p. 384.
  7. ^ Beckingham, C.F., and G.W.B. Huntingford. 1954. Some Records of Ethiopia, 1593–1646. London: Hakluyt Society, p. 189. Beckingham and Huntingford gloss capelhar as a "kind of short mantle of Moorish origin."


Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).