Menas of Ethiopia

Menas (throne name Admas Sagad I) was negus negust (1559 - February 1, 1563) of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonid dynasty. He was a brother of Gelawdewos.

Related Topics:
Negus negust - 1559 - February 1 - 1563 - Ethiopia - Solomonid dynasty - Gelawdewos

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During Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi's invasion of Ethiopia, Menas had been captured but treated well as a valuable prisoner. Although the fate of prisoners of war at the time was to be castrated and enslaved, due to the intervention of Bati del Wambara, wife of Imam Ahmad Gragn, Menas escaped this mutilation, and was married to Bati del Wambara's daughter -- an act Whiteway describes as "a unique act of clemency."1 This clemency came to an end in 1542, when the Imam, desperate for help from his fellow Muslims, included Menas in a assortment of extravagent gifts to the sultan of Yemen in return for military aid. However, Imam Ahmad's son was later captured in the aftermath of the Battle of Wayna Daga, Gelawdewos used his prisoner to recover his brother Menas; according to Pankhurst, "when the royal family was reunited there were many days of celebrations."2

Related Topics:
Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi - Castrated - Bati del Wambara - Ahmad Gragn - 1 - Muslim - Yemen - Battle of Wayna Daga

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Following his elevation, he campaigned against the Falasha in Semien.

Related Topics:
Falasha - Semien

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He banished the Jesuit bishop Andre da Oviedo and his companions to a village between Axum and Adowa called Maigoga, which the Jesuits optimistically renamed Fremona, after the missionary Frumentius.

Related Topics:
Jesuit - Andre da Oviedo - Axum - Adowa - Fremona - Frumentius

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About one year into his reign, Bahr Negash Yishaq rose in revolt in Tigray proclaiming Tazkaro, the illegitimate son of Menas' brother Yaqob as negus. This revolt occupied Menas attention for the remainder of his short reign. He marched into Lasta, at which point Yishaq retreated into Shire (now part of the Amhara Region). Menas found him there and defeated Yishaq, then turned south to Gubae where he defeated the remaining supporters of Tazkaro on July 2, 1561.

Related Topics:
Bahr Negash Yishaq - Tigray - Lasta - Shire - Amhara Region - Gubae - July 2 - 1561

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Bahr Negash Yishaq then obtained the support of Zennur, the Ottoman Pasha of Massawa, and proclaimed Tazkaro's infant brother, Marqos, negus. Menas marched north again, but was defeated at Endarta by Yishaq; the Emperor fell back to Atronsa Maryam to regroup for another assault on the Bahr Negash. However, Menas came down with a fever during the march, and died at Kolo on February 1, 1563.

Related Topics:
Zennur - Ottoman - Pasha - Massawa - Endarta - Atronsa Maryam - Kolo

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