Gelawdewos of Ethiopia

Gelawdewos or Claudius (1522 – March 23, 1559) was negus (throne name Asnaf Sagad I) (1540 – 1559) of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonid dynasty. He was a younger son of Dawit II.

His reign was dominated by the struggle with Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi, until Ahmad's defeat and death in the Battle of Wayna Daga on February 21, 1543. Gelawdewos devoted time and energy to rallying his people against Ahmad, a determination his chronicler credits prevented Ahmad's forceable conversions from being permanent. With Ahmad's death, Gelawdewos was not only able to eject the leaderless Muslim forces from his domains, but also forced them out of Bale.

However, while campaigning against the Agaw in Gojjam later in his campaign, Nur ibn Mujahid once again invaded Ethiopia. Gelawdewos responded, at one point capturing Harar, where Barakat, Sultan of Adal, was killed, the last member of the Walasma dynasty.

Jesuit missionaries arrived in his realm, attempting to convert Ethiopia to Catholicism. In response to their arguments, he produced a Confession, which defended the Monophysite doctrine.

Ethiopia's access to the outside world was severely crippled in 1557, when the Ottoman Empire conquered Massawa. From that point forward, dignitaries and missionaries to Ethiopia had to travel in disguise to avoid Muslim authorities. This also allowed the Ottomans to block the Ethiopians from importing firearms.

He was killed responding to another invasion by Nur on March 23, 1559.

Bibliography

• Richard K. P. Pankhurst. The Ethiopian Royal Chronicles. Addis Ababa: Oxford University Press,1967.