 | History of Ethiopia: Encyclopedia II - History of Ethiopia - Portuguese Influence
History of Ethiopia - Portuguese Influence
Under the Solomonid dynasty, the chief provinces became Tigray (northern), Amhara (central) and Shewa (southern). The seat of government, or rather of overlordship, has usually been in Amhara, the ruler of which, calling himself nəgusä nägäst (king of kings, or emperor), has exacted tribute, when he could, from the other provinces. The title of nəgusä nägäst has been to a considerable extent based on the blood in the veins of the claimant. All the emperors have based their claims on their direct descent from Solomon and the queen of Sheba; but it is needless to say that in many, if not in most, cases their success has been due more to the force of their arms than to the purity of their lineage.
Towards the close of the 15th century the Portuguese missions into Ethiopia began. A belief had long prevailed in Europe of the existence of a Christian kingdom in the far east, whose monarch was known as Prester John, and various expeditions had been sent in quest of it. Among others who had engaged in this search was Pedro de Covilham, who arrived in Ethiopia in 1490, and, believing that he had at length reached the far-famed kingdom, presented to the negus, or emperor of the country, a letter from his master the king of Portugal, addressed to Prester John.
Covilham remained in the country, but in 1507 an Armenian named Matthew was sent by the Emperor to the king of Portugal to request his aid against the Muslims. In 1520 a Portuguese fleet, with Matthew on board, entered the Red Sea in compliance with this request, and an embassy from the fleet visited the Emperor, Lebna Dengel, and remained in Ethiopia for about six years. One of this embassy was Father Francisco Alvarez, who wrote one of the earliest and not the least interesting account of the country.
Between 1528 and 1540 armies of Muslims, under the renowned general Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi, entered Ethiopia from the low country to the south-east, and overran the kingdom, obliging the emperor to take refuge in the mountain fastnesses. In this extremity recourse was again had to the Portuguese. John Bermudez, a subordinate member of the mission of 1520, who had remained in the country after the departure of the embassy, was, according to his own statement (which is untrustworthy), ordained successor to the Abuna (archbishop), and sent to Lisbon. Bermudez certainly came to Europe, but with what credentials is not known.
Be that as it may, a Portuguese fleet, under the command of Christovão da Gama, was sent from India and arrived at Massawa in February 1541. Here he received an ambassador from the Emperor beseeching him to send help against the Moslems, and in the July following a force of 400 musketeers, under the command of Christovão da Gama, younger brother of the admiral, marched into the interior, and being joined by native troops were at first successful against the enemy; but they were subsequently defeated at the Battle of Wofla (28 August 1542), and their commander captured and executed. On February 21, 1543, however, Ahmad was shot and killed in the Battle of Wayna Daga and his forces totally routed. After this, quarrels arose between the Emperor and Bermudez, who had returned to Ethiopia with da Gama and who now wished the emperor publicly to profess himself a convert to Rome. This the Emperor refused to do, and at length Bermudez was obliged to make his way out of the country.
The Jesuits who had accompanied or followed the da Gama expedition into Ethiopia, and fixed their headquarters at Fremona (near Adowa), were oppressed and neglected, but not actually expelled. In the beginning of the 17th century Father Pedro Páez arrived at Fremona, a man of great tact and judgment, who soon rose into high favour at court, and gained over the emperor to his faith. He directed the erection of churches, palaces and bridges in different parts of the country, and carried out many useful works. His successor Alfonso Mendez was a man of much less conciliatory manners, and the feelings of the people became strongly excited against the intruders, till at length, on the death of Emperor Sissinios, and the accession of his son Fasilidos in 1633, the Jesuits were expelled.
Other related archives1000, 1270, 1490, 1507, 1520, 1541, 1542, 1543, 15th century, 1633, 1698, 1721, 1769, 1770, 1816, 1818, 1855, 1868, 1870, 1872, 1882, 1888, 1889, 1896, 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, 1913, 1916, 1935, 1936, 1950, 1963, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1984, 1987, 19th century, 20th century, 28 August, 3000 BC, 3rd century, 500 BC, 520, 614, 6th century, 702, 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, nəgusä nägäst, Abay, Abraha, Abuna, Abyssinia, Achilles, Addis Ababa, Adowa, Adulis, Africa, Agame, Agaw, Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi, Alexandria, Amba Mariam, Amha Iyasus, Amhara, Amharans, Amharic, Ancient Greece, Ankober, April 13, Arabia, Ares, Armah, Asfa Wossen, Ashama ibn Abjar, Assab, Atbara, August 22, Axum, Battle of Adowa, Battle of Wayna Daga, Battle of Wofla, Blue Nile, Bogos, Byzantine Empire, China, Christian, Christovão da Gama, Cosmas Indicopleustes, Cuba, Cush, Dabra Berhan, Dawit III, Dejazmach, Derg, Dhu Nuwas, Dire Dawa, Djibouti, Egwale Seyon, Egypt, Emperor Tewoflos, Endubis, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front, Ezana, Fasilidos, February 1, February 11, February 21, France, Francisco Alvarez, Fremona, Frumentius, GDRT, Gallabat, Ge'ez, Gebra Maskal Lalibela, Gojjam, Gondar, Greek Mythology, Greek colonies, Greeks, Gugsa, Haile Melekot, Haile Selassie, Harrar, Herodotus, India, Italian invasion, Italians, James Bruce, Jerusalem, Jesuits, Jewish, Judith, Kaleb, King Solomon, Kingdom of Aksum, Korean War, Lake Tana, Lalibela, League of Nations, Lebna Dengel, Liberia, Lij Iyassu, Mani, Mara Takla Haymanot, March 15, March 9, Massawa, May 18, May 2, May 5, May 9, Memnon, Menelek II, Menelik, Menelik I, Menelik II, Mengistu Haile Mariam, Middle East, Mikael Sehul, Moscow, Muhammad, Muslim, Napata, Negus, Nine Saints, North Africa, November 4, Nubia, October 2, October 26, Ogaden, Ogaden War, Old Testament, Organisation of African Unity, Oromo, Pedro Páez, Pedro de Covilham, People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, Persian, Piye, Portugal, Portuguese, Poseidon, Prester John, Procopius, Ptolemaic Dynasty, Ptolemy Euergetes, Punt, Qwara, Ras, Red Sea, Robert Napier, Rome, Sabagadis, Saint Athanasius of Alexandria, Scramble for Africa, Sennar, September 10, September 12, Sheba, Shewa, Showans, Sissinios, Solomonid dynasty, Somalia, Soviet Union, Sub-Saharan Africa, Subdivisions of Ethiopia, Sudan, Tekle Giyorgis, Tekle Haymanot I, Tekle Haymanot II, Tewodros II, Tigray, Tigrayan Peoples' Liberation Front, Tigre, Tigreans, Treaty of Wuchale, Trojan war, Twenty-fifth dynasty, Twenty-second dynasty of Egypt, United States, University College of Addis Ababa, Victoria, Wa'zeb, Western Somali Liberation Front, Wolde Selassie, Workers' Party of Ethiopia, Yeha, Yekuno Amlak, Yemen, Yohannes IV, Zagwe dynasty, Zauditu, Zeus, Zimbabwe, Zoskales, administrative structure of his kingdom, ancient Egypt, ancient Greeks, border war, chief divisions of the country, chief provinces, consul, defeated by British and Ethiopian forces, dervishes, emperor, famine, homo sapiens, invaded and occupied, irredentist, king of Portugal, lineage, monasticism, public domain, to rescue the captured nationals
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Portuguese Influence", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
