Zara yaqob biography

Luckily, Yaqob had other redeeming qualities: he was a gifted religious reformer and an innovative statesman. How did he acquire these talents? According to legend, Yaqob's jealous older brother Tewodros I had young Yaqob sent away when he was just a boy to be raised and educated in isolation in a monastery in Axum. There he learned the ways of the church and became a noted theologian and scholar as he grew up.

When he came to power, Yaqob took the name Constantine I and set about transforming the church. He announced new doctrines and cast aside the old, outdated orthodoxies. Some of his notions were peculiar and met with strong resistance from the church establishment. Many of these changes had to do with the liturgical cycle; after a Christmas Day victory over an invading Muslim army which greatly outnumbered his own, Zara Yaqob decreed that from then on Christmas would be celebrated every month, and went on to add numerous other monthly feasts as well.

Intensely devoted to the Mother of God and greatly impressed by reports of her contemporary miraculous apparition at Metmaq, Egyptthe emperor required that every church have an altar dedicated in her honor, and ordered all 33 of her festivals to be observed as if they were Sundays no matter when they fell in the week. Several classic works of Ge'ez literature date from his reign, most of them in some way connected to veneration of the Theotokos; among them is a translation of the Western European Miracles of the Virgin.

Norman Hugh Redington.

Zara yaqob biography: Zara Yaqob was Emperor of

Zara Yaqob's childhood had a downside: the seclusion he experienced as a youngster left him unprepared for the seething cauldron of politics and diplomacy, schemes and intrigue, that he was thrust into as king. His reaction to encountering difficulty in these arenas was to take a despotic and intolerant tack. He punished dissidents mercilessly and executed leaders of radical sects in the church that he deemed heretics, especially animists.

He even had many close members of the Royal Court, including the Empress, put to death when he feared a coup. Dictionary of African Historical Biography. Berkeley: University of California Press, Brockman, Santa Barbara, California. All rights reserved.

Zara yaqob biography: The great emperor Zara

This page is available in:. Norman C. Northern campaigns [ edit ]. Building palaces and churches [ edit ]. Later years [ edit ]. Works of literature [ edit ]. Foreign affairs [ edit ]. Notes [ edit ]. Citations [ edit ]. Wallis London: Methuen. Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: D-Ha. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. ISBN Archived from the original on 8 March Retrieved 1 June Wallace Budge, E.

Ethiopianist Notes. JSTOR Archived from the original on 11 June Retrieved 7 June Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Encyclopedia Aethiopica. Retrieved 19 August Journal of World History. ISSN Sources [ edit ]. Buxon, David The Abyssinians. New York: Praeger. Connel, Dan; Killion, Tom Historical Dictionary of Eritrea. The Scarecrow. Hassen, Mohammed University of London.

Archived PDF from the original on 13 February Retrieved 25 March Henze, Paul B. While admitting that this tradition "is invaluable as providing a religious background for Zar'a-Ya'iqob's career", Taddesse Tamrat dismisses this story as "very improbable in its details. We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.

Zara yaqob biography: Zara Yaqob was unquestionably the greatest

If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly. Forgot your password? Retrieve it.