Susenyos I (Ge’ez: ሱስንዮስ Sūsinyōs; c. 1571-1575 – 17 September 1632), commonly known as Susenyos the Catholic, was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1607 until 1632. He belonged to the Solomonic dynasty. His throne names were Seltan Sagad and Malak Sagad III. He was the son of Abeto Fasil, grandson of Abeto Yakob, and great-grandson of Dawit II. As a result, while some authors name Susenyos as a member of the Solomonic dynasty, others see him—rather than his son, Fasilides—as the founder of the Gondar line of the dynasty (which, however, is ultimately a subset of the Solomonic dynasty). Susenyos’ life is documented in his chronicle, which was authored by a number of official scribes.

Manuel de Almeida, a Portuguese Jesuit who resided in Ethiopia during Susenyos’ reign, characterised 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 crimson velvet tunic down to the knee, Moorish breeches, a sash or girdle of many large pieces of good gold, and an outer coat of damask of the same colour, similar to a capelhar.” Susenyos became Emperor after defeating first Za Selasse and then Yaqob on March 10, 1607, at the Battle of Gol in southern Gojjam. Following his loss, Za Sellase became a Susenyos follower, but broke out with him early in his reign and was imprisoned on an amba in Guzamn. Za Selassie escaped after a year and lived as an outlaw or shifta for a year before being assassinated by a peasant who sent his head to the Emperor. During his early reign, he was defeated by Hadiya rebels commanded by Sidi Mohammed at the Battle of Hadiya. In 1608, a rebel emerged near Debre Bizen. Because Yaqob’s body had never been located during the Battle of Gol, there was considerable question that the previous Emperor was indeed dead, and a pretender claimed to be the deceased Emperor Yaqob. The impostor managed to conceal the fact that he did not resemble Yaqob by covering part of his face and claimed that he had received severe wounds to his teeth and face during the struggle.

Sela Krestos, the governor of Tigray, led an attack on the rebels with his own household and descendants of Portuguese soldiers who had followed Cristóvão da Gama (son of the legendary Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama) into Ethiopia. Despite defeating the rebels three times, the impostor managed to flee each battle and hide in the mountains of Hamasien. Meanwhile, Emperor Susenyos was engaged with Oromo raiding bands. An first engagement with the Marawa Oromo in the upper course of the Reb River resulted in a setback for the Ethiopian advance guards; Susenyos regrouped his soldiers and launched an attack, scattering the Oromo. The Marawa formed an alliance with other Oromo, and the combined force marched into Begemder to revenge their defeat. When the Emperor learned of this, he summoned his son-in-law Qegnazmach Julius and Kifla Krestos, who joined him with their soldiers and beat the raiders at Ebenat on January 17, 1608.

According to James Bruce, the Royal Chronicle of Susenyos claims that 12,000 Oromo were murdered, while only 400 Emperor’s soldiers died. After dealing with the Oromo threat, Susenyos focused on Yaqob, the pretender. He marched to Axum via the Lamalmo and Waldebba and was crowned Emperor on March 18, 1608, in a ceremony recounted by João Gabriel, the Portuguese captain in Ethiopia. Despite his efforts to legitimise his power, Susenyos was unable to apprehend the imposter and was obliged to delegate the duty to his servant Amsala Krestos. Amsala Krestos persuaded two brothers who had joined the uprising to assassinate Yaqob the pretender, and then sent the dead man’s head to Susenyos. Without a scarf to obscure his features, writes Bruce, “it now apparent that he had neither scars in his face, broken jaw, nor loss of teeth; but the covering was intended simply to conceal the little likeness he had to king Jacob, slain, as we told before, at the battle of Lebart.

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