The Ethiopian Journal of Social Sciences Volume 8, Number 1, May 2022

Empress Eleni: Overturning Falsified Narratives on Her Consort, Ethnicity, and Religious
Background

Yeshambel Kindie Bayu1

Abstract: Empress Eleni, also known as Romna, was the consort of Emperor Ba’eda Maryam
and she was renowned among the court dignitaries of Ba’eda Maryam and his successors. Eleni
was an eminent politician and a devout Christian. A lot has been said and written about the
political career and religious devotion of Empress Eleni. Regrettably, however, Empress Eleni’s
belongingness, religious background and consort remain controversial. Nearly all the published
books and articles on medieval Ethiopian history introduced Empress Eleni by her mistaken
identity and this was generally accepted as an ultimate truth, at least, for the last sixty years.
This article attempted to examine the chronicle of Emperor Zar’a Yaeqob and his son Emperor
Ba’eda Maryam and other contemporary sources intensively and offers the real identity of
Empress Eleni in connection with her belongingness, consort and religious background.
Keywords: Empress Eleni, Ite Žan Zela,Romna,Emperor Zar’a Yaeqob, Emperor Ba’eda
Maryam, ethnicity, religious background

_____________________________________________________
1
Bahir Dar University, Department of History, Email: yeshukindie@[Link]

Introduction

As stated clearly in the chronicle of Zar’a Yaeqob and Ba’eda Maryam, Empress Eleni was the
consort of Ba’eda Maryam. On the other hand, in the same chronicle a certain queen by the name
Ite Žan Zela, sister of Mahiko was mentioned in association with his rebellious character against
Zar’a Yaeqob. Mahiko was the Garad of Hadiya and the son of Mehemad and at this time, Ite
Žan Zela was not mentioned whose daughter she was but later on, when the scribe tried to relate
as she was the daughter of Mehemad he misspelled Eleni instead of Žan Zela. Consequently, by
associating Eleni with that of Ite Žan Zela, the identity of Eleni remains perplexed. Some writers
considered that Empress Eleni was the wife of Emperor Zar’aYa’eqob, ethnically Hadiya and
originally a Muslim. Some others claim that Eleni was the consort of Emperor Ba’eda Maryam
and her origin was from Adal. Some other sources still argue that Empress Eleni was the wife of
Ba’eda Maryam but ethnically as she was from the Muslim community of Dawaro. These
different views claimed by different writers entangled Empress Eleni’s identity.

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This paper challenges the works of preconceived writers who misrepresented the identity
of Empress Eleni in connection with her origin, religious background and her consort, and finally
it attempts to reconstruct the actual history of Empress Eleni. In this paper I used both primary
and secondary sources. The primary sources I used are mainly Ethiopian chronicles. In addition,
I also consulted contemporary travelers’ accounts and secondary sources produced later by both
Ethiopians and foreigners.

1. Is there any irrefutable evidence that signifies as Empress Eleni was the consort of
Emperor Zar’a Ya’eqob?

To respond either in a negative way or affirmatively, it is vital to examine and analyze all the
available sources in relation to Emperor Zar’a Yaeqob and Empress Eleni. Among these sources,
the chronicle of Emperor Zar’a Yaeqob(1434-1468) and his son Emperor Ba’eda Maryam(1468-
1478), which was compiled together, most probably while Eleni was alive and certainly during
the reign of Lebna Dengle(1508-1540) and published by a French researcher, Perruchon, in
1893, is an unclassified document of the country with reference to Zar’a Yaeqob and Eleni. I
consulted this chronicle from A to Z. There are indications as the chronicle of Zar’a Yaeqob and
Ba’eda Maryam was compiled during the reign of Lebna Dengle. For instance, the scribe tells us
that ‘ወከማሁ ይረድኣ ለንጉሥነ ልብነ ድንግል ወልዱ ወፍቁሩ’1(May God help our king, Lebna
Dengel, beloved son (of Zar’a Yaeqob). The writer further states that ‘ወኮነ ማሕቶታ ወአብርሃ
ጽልመታ ለዝነቱ ንጉሥነ ዘርዓ ያዕቆብ እግዚአብሔር ይክፍሎ መንግስተ ሰማያት እንበለ ቅስት
ወሐተታት ወለወልዱ ልብነ ድንግል ይከልሎ ከመ ስሙር ወልታ ወለወላዲቱ ንጽሕት እንበለ
፪ኤ አጥባታ’2 (Our king, Zar’a Yaeqob, enlightened the dark and became the light of (Ethiopia),
may God pay him the kingdom of Heaven without an examination and challenges, protect, as a
nice shield, his son Lebna Dengel, and his mother, who was pure except her two breasts).
Having said all about the time when the chronicle was written I will continue my objective
analysis first on her consort and then on her belongingness.
Tseyon Mogäsa and Žan Häyla (regnal names) were the consorts of Emperor Zar’a Yaeqob
mentioned by name in the chronicle. Tseyon Mogäsa was the mother of Emperor Ba’eda
1
.Jules Perruchon (ed.), Les Chroniques Zara Yaeqob et de Baeda Maryam Rois D’ Ethiopie De 1434 A 1478

,(paris: Boullion, 1893), p.23

2
Ibid., p.48

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Maryam and certainly, though not stated in the chronicle, she was the Qägn Bäaltihat or the right
hand Empress of Zar’a Ya’eqob. Concerning Tseyon Mogäsa, the chronicle states that ‘ወበእለተ
ተዝካራሄ ለይእቲ እሙ ዘስማ ጽዮን ሞገሣ ወሰደ ወልዳ በእደ ማርያም እጣነ
ወማሕቶተ’3(Ba’eda Maryam took incense and candle light to the memorial day of his mother
who was called Tseyon Mogäsa). Regarding Žan Häyla, the scribe states that ‘ወአወፈያ ለዣን
ኃይላ ይዕተ መካነ ከመ ይኩና ርስተ እስመ ብዕሲተ ንዕሱ ይዕቲ ዘተሰምየት ግራ በዓልቲሐት’4
(He (Zar’a Yaeqob) gave this place (Eba) to be an estate of Žan Häyla, who was his youth’s wife
and designated as Gera Bäaltihat (empress of the left hand). According to the chronicle of Zar’a
Yaeqob, Žan Häyla aka Fremaryam, was the favourite wife of Zar’aYaeqob. In addition to Eba,
Zar’aYa’eqob gave the church of Mäkanä Maryam to Žan Häyla, who was the mother of his
daughters, namely Berhan Zämäda, Mädhen Zämäda, Säblä Maryam and Del Debaba.5
Except Tseyon Mogäsa and Žan Häyla, the chronicle of Zar’a Yaeqob and Baeda Maryam
which is compiled together says nothing about another consort of Emperor Zar’aYaeqob. On the
other hand, one queen by the name Ite Žan Zela and Eleni mentioned in the chronicle in
association with the two Muslim leaders of Hadiya, Mahiko and Mehemad respectively. Mahiko
was a disobedient Garad of Hadiya and his disobedience to Emperor Zar’aYa’eqob was
described as follows:
ወእምዕበየ ኀይሉ ወኀበ ሐድያሰ ገራድ ሶበ ለአኩ ቃለ አጼ እንዘ ይብሉ ነዓ ውስተ
ዴዴነአ ፀዊረከ መንግሥአ ወይቤ ውዕቱ ሐድያ ገራድ ዘስሙ ማሂኮ ወልዱ ለገራድ
ምሕመድ ወእኁሃ ለእቴ ዣን ዜላ ንግሥት ቀኝዕ በዓልቲሐት ኢይመጽአ አንሰአ ኀበ
ዴዴክሙ ወኢወጽአ እምብሔርየአ እንዘ ይብል ከመዝ ለአከ ወዕቱኒ ወአበየ ቃለ ንጉሥ::6
(When they sent an order of the emperor to Garad of Hadiya, to summon him to the court
and pay his tribute, because he felt strong, Hadiya Garad, whose name was called Mahiko
and son of Garad Mehemad and brother of Ite Žan Zela, Queen of the right Bäaltihat,

3
Ibid., p.106
4
Ibid., p.87
5
Ibid. ,pp.54-55, See also Rita Pankhurst, “Taytu’s Foremothers: Queen Eleni, Queen Sablawangel and Bati Del

Wanbara” in Proceedings of the 16th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, (eds.) by Svein Ege,

Harald Aspen,etal (Trondhem, 2009), p.52

6
Perruchon(ed.), Les Chroniques Zara Yaeqob et de Baeda Maryam, pp.16-17

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rejected the call of the emperor and responded by saying that neither he will come to the
court nor will he leave his kingdom).

On the other hand, the chronicler relates that ‘ወነበረ ኀበ አዘዝዎ በሀገረ አይፈርስ ለውዕቱ
ሐድያ ገራድ ምሕመድ አቡሃ ለንግሥት እሌኒ ቀኝዕ በዓልቲሐት’7(As he was ordered, Hadiya
Garad Mehemad, father of Queen Eleni, Qägn Bäaltihat, stayed at a place called Ayfärs). As
stated clearly above, the name Ite Žan Zela and Eleni are presented in association with Mahiko
and Mehemad, brother of Žan Zela and father of Eleni respectively. In other words, Ite Žan Zela
and Eleni were not mentioned as wives of Emperor Zar’aYaeqob anywhere in the chronicle.
Moreover, these names, Žan Zela and Eleni, are incompatible with both Zar’a Ya’eqob and
Mehemad respectively. Firstly, Zela, a suffix given for a regnal name, unless it was the title of a
queen of Hadiya Garad, it is unknown in Ge’ez literature as a regnal name. Ite Žan Zela was the
title of the right hand queen. The prefix Žan, however, was the title of the left hand empresses for
Ethiopian emperors. For instance, the left hand empresses of Zar’a Ya’eqob and Ba’eda Maryam
were called Žan Häyla and Žan Säyfa respectively. If Ite Žan Zela had been the right hand queen
of Zar’a Ya’eqob, the suffix for her royal name would be called Mogäsa rather than Žan because
Mogäsa was the most frequent regnal name for the right hand empresses of Ethiopian emperors
in the period between fifteenth and eighteenth centuries. Accordingly, the right hand Queen of
Zar’a Yaeqob was called Tseyon Mogäsa. Some of the royal names of Ethiopian empresses
include Tseyon Mogäsa(Zar’a Ya’eqob),8 Admas Mogäsa (Ba’eda Maryam)9, Naod Mogäsa
(Naod),10Admas Mogäsa (Minas)11, Malak Mogäsa(Sarsa Dengel),12 Seltan Mogäsa
(Susenyos),13 Aelaf Mogäsa (Yohannes I),14 and Berhan Mogäsa (Bakaffa).15

7
Ibid. , p.59
8
Ibid., p.106
9
Ibid., p. 125
10
Tekletsadiq Makuria, Ya Ityopia Tarik ka Atse Lebna Dengel eska AtseTewodros ( A History of Ethiopia from

Emperor Lebna Dengel to Emperor Tewodros), ( Addis Ababa: NP, 2000 E.C.(rpt), p.22 See also Tekletsadiq

Makuria, Ya Ityopia Tarik ka Atse YekunoAmlak eska Atse Lebna Dengel (A History of Ethiopia from Emperor

YekunoAmlak to Emperor Lebna Dengel,(Addis Ababa: Berhanena Selam Printing Press, 1966),
11
Conti K. Rossini (ed.), Historia Regis Sarsa Dengel (Malak Sagad), (Paris: Vol.1, 1907), p.6

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Secondly, the name Eleni mentioned in association with Mehemad, Garad of Hadiya, is a
misnomer because the name Eleni is neither a baptismal nor a regnal name. It is merely a proper
name for a Christian woman. Rita, erroneously, had attempted as if Eleni was a baptismal
name.16 Rita’s claim is groundless. As to me the name Eleni spelt as a daughter of Mehemad is a
slip of the pen. Accordingly, the name Eleni must be emended into Zela because the writer
unconsciously alludes to the name Eleni instead of Zela, obsessed by Empress Eleni, widow of
Emperor Ba’eda Maryam and whose chronicle is also compiled with Zar’a Ya’eqob.
Furthermore, Ite Žan Zela’s brother and father were not loyal to Emperor Zar’a Ya’eqob. It is
pretty clear that Mahiko was a rebellious leader of Hadiya and his father Mehemad, albeit
obedient, was not trustworthy in the court of Zar’a Ya’eqob. During the battle between Arwe
Bädlay and Zar’a Yaeqob in 1445, Mehemad was kept away from the battle field because of his
religion and was ordered to stay at Ayfärs because he was not trusted.17
Several writers, both local and foreign, contemplate that Zar’a Yaeqob had married several
wives. However, the claim of these writers was not supported by the chronicle. If Zar’a Ya’eqob
had married more than two consorts, there is no need to designate his consorts as Gera Bäaltihat
and Qägn Bäaltihat. Despite the fact that polygamy was unacceptable in Christianity, it appears
legal for Ethiopian emperors in the fifteenth century. Zar’a Yaeqob, Ba’eda Maryam and Naod
had married two consorts each. The possible justification behind this permission for the
aforementioned emperors seem that all of them came to the throne after marriage and a son born
from a wife before coronation was not legitimate to succeed the throne. As a result, the three
Ethiopian emperors married a second wife officially after their coronation. To differentiate the
first from the second, they designate the first wife as Gera Bäaltihat and the second wife as Qägn
Bäaltihat. Qägn Bäaltihat was the identity card for the main wife of an emperor in the fifteenth
century, and it happened in line with the Psalm of David. ‘Upon thy right hand did stand the
12
Alemu Haile (trans.), Ya Ityopia Tarik: Ya Atse Susenyos Zena Mawael (1597-1625 ( A History of Ethiopia: A

Chronicle of Emperor Susenyos (1604-1635), (Addiss Ababa: Sirak Printing Press, 2005 E.C.), p.74
13
Ibid., p.35
14
W. Wright (ed.), Catalogue of the Ethiopic Manuscripts in British Museum, (London: 1877), Orient.510, f.238a
15
Ibid. Orient. 636, f.5b
16
Rita Pankhurst, “Taytu’s Foremothers, p.52
17
Jules Perruchon,(ed.),Les Chroniques Zara Yaeqob---, p.59

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queen in gold of Ophir.’18 According to sources, the successors of Zar’a Yaeqob, Ba’eda
Maryam and Naod were born from Qägn Bäaltihats or right hand empresses. For example, Naod
was succeeded by his second son, Lebna Dengel, though he had an older son from his first
wife.19 In this regard, Emperor Galawdewos, in his letter to king Joao of Portugal, states that
‘This letter is sent in the presence of King of Ethiopia, Asnaf Sagad, son of King Wanag Sagad,
second son of King Naod.’20Because of the aforementioned reasons Emperor Zar’a Yaeqob had
married two wives, Žan Häyla and Tseyon Mogäsa. Apart from these two, there is not any
irrefutable evidence in the chronicle as Eleni was his consort. Anybody, who is literate of the
Ge’ez language, will not be deceived by the claims of ill-informed writers anymore. Ite Žan Zela,
who was not mentioned as a wife of somebody in the chronicle of Zar’aYaeqob, was the queen
of Hadiya Garad, contemporary of Emperor Lebna Dengel. Alvarez, who was in Ethiopia in the
period between 1520 and 1526, described the queen as follows:
It was fifteen days since the Moorish Queen had come to this court, she was the wife of the
King of Adea [Hadiya] …This queen came to the Prester to ask him for assistance, saying
that a brother of her husband had risen against her and taking the kingdom. This queen
came quite like a queen, and brought with her fully fifty honorable Moors on mules and a
hundred men on foot, and six women on good mules, they are not very dark people.
Eighteen days after this queen’s arrival, she received dresses.21

This queen stayed in the court of Lebna Dengel in need of assistance and in response to her
request he sent fifteen thousand troops to subdue the uprising in the kingdom of Hadiya but the
uprising continued and as result Lebna Dengel determined to make a campaign and went in
person to subdue the uprising and as soon as he entered the kingdom all the people in Hadiya
obeyed him as their sovereign.22 I think, this queen was Ite Žan Zela and the most possible
18
Holy Bible: King James Version, Psalm 45:9
19
Lord Stanley (trans.), Narrative of the Portuguese Embassy to Abyssinia During the Years 1520-1527, (London:

Hakluyt Society, 1881), p.143

20
Richard S. Whiteway (trans.), The Portuguese Expedition to Abyssinia in 1541-1543, (London: Hakluyt

Society,1902),pp.115-116
21
Lord Stanley (trans.), Narrative of the Portuguese Embassy, p.323
22
Ibid. pp.325-330

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justification why her name was mentioned in the chronicle of Zar’a Yaeqob in connection with
her brother and father, who were contemporaries of Zar’a Yaeqo, is because the writer was
familiar with Ite Žan Zela in the court of Lebna Dengel and due to the fact that the chronicle of
Zar’a Yaeqob and Ba’eda Maryam was compiled during the reign of Lebna Dengel.
Although there are no testimonies in the chronicle that would support their claim appropriately,
some writers, both local and foreign, had misrepresented the personal identity of Empress Eleni.
For instance, Beckingham and Huntingford had misrepresented the history of Eleni aka Romna
by misquotations. They misquote and misrepresent it as:
Lebna Dengel, son of Naod, was grandson of Baeda Maryam through his first wife Romana
Warq. But although this queen was capable of asserting herself when necessary, she was
wholly surpassed by the forceful personality of Eleni. This woman, the daughter of
Mehmad (Muhammad) the Moslem governor (garad) of Hadya, was married-doubtless as a
matter of policy-by Zara Yaeqob; she was his senior queen (the queen of the right).After his
death she became the second wife of his successor Baeda Maryam, who make her his queen
of the right, in spite of the fact that Romana Warq his first queen ‘the wife of his youth’ as
the chronicler calls her, was alive.’’23

As stated above in detail, the first wives of Zar’a Yaeqob and Ba’eda Maryam before coronation
were called Žan Hayla and Žan Sayfa respectively. Besides, Romana Warq was a name for the
daughter of Naod and sister of Lebna Dengel, and mother of Hamelmal. Romna was another
name of Eleni and mother of Eskender and Naod. She was not the wife of his youth for Ba’eda
Maryam as reported by Beckingham and Huntingford wrongly but a wife after coronation.
Above all, a wife of Zar’a Yaeqob cannot be a wife of Baeda Maryam, his son.
Among Ethiopian writers, the late professor Taddesse Tamrat and Tekletsadiq Makuria, a guru
of medieval Ethiopian history and, a prolific writer respectively, were well-versed in Geez
literature and I think they have consulted the chronicle of Zar’a Yaeqob and Ba’eda Maryam,
which was published in 1893. Regrettably, both of them failed to narrate accurately what was
written in the chronicle.
It is evident that Empress Eleni was the consort of Emperor Ba’eda Maryam and this was
confirmed by the chronicle and acknowledged by other subsequent chronicles. Contrary to this,

23
C. F. Beckingham and G. B. Huntingford(eds.), The Prester John of the Indies: A True Relation of the Lands of
the Prester John being the narrative of the Portuguese Embassy to Ethiopia in 1520, written by father
Francisco Alvares,(Cambridge: The Hakluyt Society, 1961), p.14

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Taddesse contends as if Eleni was the consort of Zar’a Yaeqob. He asserts that ‘Eleni was
originally a Hadiya princess, married to King Zar’a Yaeqob as early as 1445, some years before
Baeda Maryam was born.’24 Taddesse cited the chronicle of Zara Ya’eqob as a source but quoted
inaccurately. So the assertion of Taddesse is far-fetched and utterly misleading. Let alone a
specific year of matrimony between Zar’a Yaeqo and Eleni, there is no any kind of clue to
support his claim. As stated earlier, Žan Häyla and Tseyon Mogäsa were the two consorts of
Zar’a Ya’eqob. Taddesse further argues that ‘When Zara Yaeqob died, Eleni retained her old title
Qägn Bäaltihat in the court of his successor. Her position appears to have been purely ceremonial
and she was not numbered among the four wives of the new king.’25 Taddesse seems misled by
the assertion of Beckingham and Huntingford. They assert that ‘Baeda Maryam was very fond of
Eleni, but regarded her as his mother which suggests that she was a wife in name and status only,
and confirms the assertion of Tellez that she was childless.’26This is a wild imagination; one
could not marry a wife for the sake of name and status only. As a matter of fact, Ba’eda Maryam
loved Eleni very much because she was perfect in everything and the mother of his sons,
Eskender and Naod. Besides, Empress Eleni was the right hand empress of Ba’eda Maryam and
her title was Admas Mogäsa, not Qägn Bäaltihat. Regarding her title, the chronicle states that
‘ወለብዕሲተ ንዕሱ ግራ በዓልቲሐት ሰመይዋ ዣን ሰይፋ ወለቀኝዕ በዓልቲሐት እሌኒ ሰመይዋ
አድማስ ሞገሣ’27(His (Ba’eda Maryam) youth’s wife, empress of the left hand, designated as
Žan Säyfa and Eleni, empress of the right hand, designated as Admas Mogäsa).
Žan Säyfa and Admas Mogäsa were the two consorts of Ba’eda Maryam but Taddesse did not
want to acknowledge it. Empress Eleni was the favourite wife of Emperor Baeda Maryam. His
love to Eleni and her personal qualities is depicted as follows:
ወለቀኝ በዓልቲሐት ዘስማ እሌኒ አፍቀራ ጥቀ ንጉሥ በጾታሃ እስመ ኮነት ፍጽምተ በኩሉ
ኀበ እግዚአብሔር በገቢረ ጽድቅ ወሃይማኖት በገቢረ ጸሎት ወቁርባን ወበዓለምኒ
በሥርዓተ ማዕድ ወሕግ በአእምሮ መጽሐፍ ወነገር በእንተዝ ኩሉ አፍቀራ ንጉሥ
ፈድፋደ ለንግሥትነ እሌኒ ወረሰያ ከመ እሙ:28

24
Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia, 1270-1527, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), p.288
25
Ibid.
26
Beckingham and Huntingford, The Prester John of the Indies, p. 14
27
Jules Perruchon (trans.), Les Chroniques Zara Yaeqo, p.125
28
[Link].175-176

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(Our king (Ba’eda Maryam) loved Qägn Bäaltihat very much for the sake of her femininity
and her name was called Eleni. She was perfect in everything in front of God by practicing
righteousness and having strong faith, by praying and receiving the Holy Communion. In
worldly terms, she was accomplished in preparing food (royal table) and familiar with law,
state affairs and knowledgeable with books. For all these qualities, the king greatly loved
our queen Eleni and treated her as his own mother).

Adapted from: Habtamu M. Tegegne, “Fragility and Resilience: Church History and Myth in
Nineteenth Century Ethiopia” in Æthiopica 23(2020), p.137.
The above picture is an extant testimony as Eleni was the consort of Be’eda
Maryam.
As opposed to the above ample testimonies, Taddesse persisted in his reluctance as Eleni was not
the consort of Ba’eda Maryam by taking the phrase ‘ከመ እሙ’(as his own mother), as an
indicator and argues that ‘It is very clear from this that Eleni was not Ba’eda Maryam’s wife. But
in deference to his father Zara Yaeqob and to her own apparently capability, he let her retain the

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The Ethiopian Journal of Social Sciences Volume 8, Number 1, May 2022

title of Qägn Bäaltihat which she already held in Zar’a Yaeqob’s court.’29Taddesse’s argument is
implausible and I don’t think that his argument would help him one iota to convince honest
historians who consulted the chronicle of Zar’a Yaeqob and Ba’eda Maryam. Besides, Qägn
Bäaltihat was not the title of Empress Eleni. Admas Mogäsa was her title. Even when he came
across to persuasive evidence in the later times that signify as Eleni was the consort of Ba’eda
Maryam and mother of his sons, Taddesse did not want to change his mind and admit his
mistakes. He reluctantly reported as:
Baeda Maryam’s queen, who was the mother of both his successors, Eskender (1478-1494)
and Naod(1494-1508), is reported to have been a member of a family of regional notables
in Ennäse and Ennäbse; she is closely associated with the great Cathedral of Martula
Maryam.30

Tekletsadiq, unlike Taddesse, had reflected different views in his different works concerning
Empress Eleni’s husband and her belongingness. Tekletsadiq asserts that ‘አጼ ዘርዓ ያዕቆብ
ከሐድያ ባላባት የምትወለደውን ጽዮን ሞገሣ የምትባለውን ሴት አግብተው ነበር፡፡እንደዚሁም
ልጃቸው በእደ ማርያም እሌኒንና ሮማነወርቅን ሁለቱም ከአዳል ባላባት የሚወለዱትን
አግብተው ነበር::’31(Atse Zar’a Yaeqob married a woman called Tseyon Mogäsa, who was native
of a Hadiya notable. Likewise, his son Ba’eda Maryam married Eleni and Romanäworq; both of
them were natives of Adal).
Tekletsadiq’s claim is fictitious. Tseyon Mogäsa, indeed, was the wife of Zara Ya’eqob and the
mother of Ba’eda Maryam but her belongingness was not mentioned anywhere in the chronicle.
Eleni, in fact, was the wife of Ba’eda Maryam but Romna is another name of Eleni, not another
wife of Ba’eda Maryam. The assertion of Tekletsadiq that Eleni and Romna were natives of Adal
is also inaccurate. Tekletsadiq, contrary to the aforementioned assertion, states as ‘አጼ ዘርዓ
ያዕቆብ ሁለት ሚስቶች ነበሩአቸው አንደኛይቱ ቀኝ በዓልቲሐት ሁለተኛይቱ ግራ በዓልቲሐት

29
Taddesse , Church and State, p.288
30
Taddesse Tamrat, “Ethiopia in Miniature: The Peopling of Gojjam” in Papers of the 12th International

Conference of Ethiopian Studies, by Harold G. Marcus & Grover Hudson(eds.), (Michigan: Michigan State

University, Vol.I, 1994), p.959

31
Tekletsadi, Ya Ityopia Tarik ka Atse Lebna Dengel,p.21

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The Ethiopian Journal of Social Sciences Volume 8, Number 1, May 2022

ይባላሉ፡መጽሐፍ የሐድያውን የገራድ መሐመድን ልጅ ንግሥት እሌኒን ቀኝ በዓልቲሐት

የልጅነት ሚስታቸውን ዣን ኃይላን ግራ በዐልቲሐት ይላቸዋል::’32(Atse Zar’a Yaeqob married
two wives. The first was called Qägn Bäaltihat and the second Gera Bäaltihat. The book tells us
that the daughter of Garad Mohammad, Queen Eleni, was queen of the right hand and his youth’s
wife, Žan Häyla, queen of the left hand). Tekletsadiq’s claim is baffling. At first, he told us about
Tseyon Mogäsa only and here Tekletsadiq tells us about another two wives. Actually, the
chronicle tells us only the two wives of Zar’a Yaeqob,Žan Häyla and Tseyon Mogäsa.
Tekletsadiq, inconsistently, continued his speculation as follows:
አጼ በእደ ማርያም በእስለሞቹና በክርስቲያኖቹ መካከል ሰላም እንዲመሰረት የዘመኑን
የጋብቻ ዘዴ በመከተል የሐድያውን ባላባት የገራድ መሐመድን እህት እስላሚቱን ክርስትና
አስነስተው አግብተው እንደ አባቶቻቸው ንግሥት እሌኒ ቀኝ በዓልቲሐት አሰኝተው
አብረው ይኖሩ ነበር፡፡ አጼ በእደ ማርያም ሚስቱን ንግሥት እሌኒን እንደ እናቱ ይወዳት
ነበር ሲል ዜና መዋዕሉ የገለጸልን የደዋሮ ባላባትና የእስላም ተወላጅ ነበሩ፡…አሁንም አጼ
ናዖድ ¾Éªa¨<” Ñ^É ¾እስላሙን ልጅ ክርስትና በተነሱበት ቀን ስማቸውን እንደ
አባቶቻቸው እሌኒ አሰኝተው በሕግ አገቡ እኒህም ሴት ሥርዓተ ንግሥ በተደረገላቸው
ቀን “±É VÑX ¾T>vM eS S”Óeƒ }c׆¨<::33
(Following the fashionable marriage system of the time and to maintain peace between
Muslims and Christians, Atse Ba’eda Maryam married a Muslim woman, sister of Garad
Mohammad, a Hadiya notable. On her baptismal day Ba’eda Maryam ordered to be called
Queen Eleni, Qägn Bäaltihat as his fathers’ and began to live together. Queen Eleni, Atse
Baeda Maryam’s wife, stated in the chronicle that her husband loves her as his own mother,
was a Muslim and native of a Dawaro notable.…Atse Naod also married a Muslim,
daughter of Dawaro Garad and designated her name Eleni as his fathers’ on the day when
she was baptized. This woman was given a regnal name called Naod Mogäsa on the day
when the coronation ceremony took place).

The claim of Tekletsadiq regarding the origin of Eleni and Naod Mogäsa is an invented one.
There is no evidence for what his claim. Tekletsadiq makes Eleni once native of Adal and

32
Tekletsadiq, Ya Ityopia Tarik ka Atse Yekunoamlak,p.189
33
[Link].364-365

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another time native of Hadiya and then of Dawaro. His argument to associate the name Eleni
with the wife of Zara Yaeqob, Baeda Maryam and Naod and the origin of empresses namely
Tseyon Mogäsa, Admas Mogäsa and Naod Mogäsa with the Muslim Community of Hadiya and
Dawaro was also groundless. In addition, Tekletsadiq wrongly quoted Eleni as a sister of Garad
Mohammad. In the chronicle of Zar’a Yaeqob, a queen of Hadiya was mentioned as a sister of
Mahiko and a daughter of Mehemad. Tekletsadiq, when he accessed a new circumstantial
evidence, in relation with Eleni’s belongingness, he was reluctant to acknowledge the source. His
skeptical narration was presented in such a manner:
አንድ በአማርኛ የተጻፈ ታሪክ… በእደ ማርያም የእነብሴይቱን ባላባት የምጣድ ቤቲቱን
እሌኒን አግብቶ አነገሣት ይህችም እሌኒ ንግሥት መርጡለማርያምን ሰራች ይላል፡ በሌላ
ላይ እልፍ ብሎ የናዖድ እናት ያደርጋታል፡፡ ታሪኩ በጥየቃ የተጻፈ ስለሆነ በሙሉ
ሊታመን አይቻልም በእርሳቸው ዘመን አቅራቢያ የነበሩ ፖርቱጋሎችና ሌሎችም
ፀሐፊዎች ሁሉ የድዋሮው የመሐመድ ልጅ ያደርቸዋል በግዛት የጎጃምን አብዛኛውን
ክፍል ትገዛ እንደ ነበርበእነሴ የሚገኘውን መርጡለማርያምን ያሠራች እርስዋ መሆንዋን
ታሪክ ፀሐፊው ሁሉ ተስማምቶበታል ምናልባት አባት የደዋሮ ባላባት እናት ጎጃሜ ትሆን
ይሆን አይታዎቅም::34
(A history book written in Amharic… states that Ba’eda Maryam married and crowned
Eleni, who was a notable of Ennäbse and head of the royal table. This queen, Eleni built the
church of Märtula Maryam. On the next page, the writer makes her the mother of Naod.
Because the book was written from an interview, it is doubtful to accept it fully. Her
contemporaries, the Portuguese and other writers made Eleni the daughter of Mohammad of
Dawaro. All the historians (of her time) agreed that Eleni was the governor of the greater
part of Gojjam and the church of Märtula Maryam found in Ennäbse was constructed by
her. It is unknown; probably her father might be from Dawaro and her mother from
Gojjam).

The book cited by Tekletsadiq, as one history book, is a book written by Tekle-Iyesus Waqjira.
This book was a vital source of Tekletsadiq’s books. Tekle Iyesus’s book underestimated and

34
Tekletsadiq Makuria, Ya Geragn Ahmed Warara (An Invasion of the Left-Handed Ahmed), (Addis Ababa:

Berhanena Selam Printing Press, 1966), p.130

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instead Tekletsadiq preferred to acknowledge Portuguese sources as Eleni was native of Dawaro.
As a matter of fact contemporary Portuguese writers did not assert that Eleni was ethnically
Hadiya or Dawaro. For instance, Alvarez, a contemporary Portuguese writer, did not say
anything about the origin of Empress Eleni.
The speculative errors of both Ethiopian and foreign writers have misled so many people who
refer to their books. For example, the late professor Merid Wolde Aregay was one of them.
Before their access to the above mentioned sources, Merid and Girma were correct in stating
Empress Eleni as the widow of Ba’eda Maryam. In their common work they state that ‘The
administration of the Empire was directed by the able and popular Empress Eleni, widow of
Baeda Maryam (1468-1478).’35 However, later on, when Merid became familiar with the book of
Taddesse, by citing it, Merid asserts that Empress Eleni was the widow of Zar’a
Yaeqob.36Within the chronicles or some other documents of the country we know only one
empress by the name Eleni. So the assertion that an empress by the name Eleni anterior to
Empress Eleni of Ba’eda Maryam or posterior to her is totally unconvincing. In relation to this,
the chronicle of Emperor Yohannes I(1667-1682) states that ‘ወእምድኅረዝ አመ ፲ወ፱ለታህሳስ
ኮነ ዕለተ መንግሰቶን ለንግስትነ ንግሥተ ሃይማኖት ሰብለወንጌል ከመ ሥርዓተ መንግስቶን
ለንግሥት እሌኒ ወንግሥት ሰብለወንጌል ብዕሲተ ንጉሥ ወናግ ሰገድ በፈቃደ
37
እግዚአብሔር”::’ (Hereafter, the coronation ceremony of our queen Säblä Wängel, queen of
religion, took place on Dec.27 with the providence of God, as it was formerly done for Queen
Eleni and for Queen Säblä Wängel, wife of Wänag Sagad).
Here, if somebody asks why the two famous Ethiopian Empresses mentioned in this chronicle in
association with the consort of Yohannes the just, because the chronicler knew that all of them
were natives of Gojjam. It was in this similar fashion that Ite Žan Zela as mentioned in the
chronicle of Zar’a Yaeqob in connection with her brother and father.

35
Girma Beshah and Merid Wolde Aregay, The Union of the Churches in Luso-Ethiopian Relations,1500-1632,

(Lisbon: Junta de Investigacoes do Ultramar, 1964),p.24

36
Merid Wolde Aregay, “ Southern Ethiopia and The Christian Kingdom, 1508-1708, With Special Reference to

Oromo Migration and Their Consequences, (London: Ph.D. Dissertation, 1971), p.111
37
Ignatius Guidi (ed..), ‘Annales Iohannes I, Iyasu I Et Bakaffa,’ in Scriptores Aethiopici textus-Series Altera-

tomus V,(Lipsiae: Otto Harrassotwitz, 1903), p.7

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2. Is There Any Clue that Denotes that Empress Eleni Was Originally a Muslim and
Ethnically Hadiya?
The above question has been answered differently by different authors. Taddesse and some other
writers claimed that Empress Eleni was originally a Muslim. These writers, however, did not
have a common understanding about the origin of Eleni. As stated above, Tekletsadiq
inconsistently narrates that Eleni was native of Adal in one of his books and native of Hadiya
and Dawaro in another. Similarly, Beckingham and Huntingford claim once as native of Hadiya
and then Dawaro.38 In addition, Abir asserts that Eleni was originally from Dawaro. He tells us
that ‘Queen Mother Illeni, Zara Yaeqob’s itege, with the help of some power courtiers,
succeeded about 1484 in overthrowing Amde-Micael’s power and became the power behind the
throne in the coming thirty years. The daughter of Dawaro’s Muslim ruler, Illeni was baptized
only when she married Zara Yaeqob.’39Unlike other writers, Taddesse consistently contends that
Eleni was native of Hadiya. Misguided by Taddesse’s assertion, a memorial hospital in the name
of Empress Eleni has been constructed by Hadiya elites at Hosaena, capital of Hadiya Zone, by
considering Eleni as their own queen. In reality, no authoritative sources exist that indicate that
Empress Eleni was originally a Muslim and ethnically Hadiya. As stated in the chronicle,
Empress Eleni was perfect in front of God. Her perfection in church matters was a blind spot for
the aforementioned writers. It is not an easy task to be perfect in the dogmas and cannons of the
church for a new convert. It appears that Taddesse and Tekletsadiq were highly influenced by
foreign sources rather than consulting the chronicles properly. As mentioned earlier, the name
Eleni was spelt mistakenly as Žan Zela, who was Queen of Hadiya Garad, sister of Mahiko and
daughter of Mehemad.
Empress Eleni was a devoted Christian in fasting the whole year. Alvarez, a contemporary
Portuguese writer and who was familiar with her in the court of Lebna Dengel, reported her
fasting activity as ‘Some old women also, who are in way withdrawn from the world, keep this
fast, and they say that Queen Helena fasted every day in the whole year and only ate the said
three times a week, on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.’40This is impossible for a newly

38
Beckingham and Huntinford ,(&eds.), The Prester John of the Indies, pp. 14, 425
39
Mordechai Abir, Ethiopia and the Red Sea: The Rise and Decline of the Solomonic Dynasty and Muslim-
European Rivalry, (Abingdon, Oxon & New York: Frank Cass and Company Limited, 1980), pp.36-37
40
Lord Stanley(trans.), Narrative of, p.290

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converted queen. When Alvarez was enquired whether the dogmas and cannons of Portuguese
church was the same with that of Ethiopia, Eleni was one of them who questioned him.
Regarding questions and answers, Alvarez states that ‘Some answers went and other questions
came, each in their own fashion, and in much disorder way, because they were not all questions
from Prester John, for some were from his mother, and others from his wife and also from Queen
Helena.’41This signifies that Eleni was active in church matters even when she was in her old
age. Moreover, Eleni was a leading protagonist of the House of Ewostatewos Movement, a
Gojjamite monastic network. Regarding this, Wion states that ‘Royal churches belonged
consistently to Däbra Libanos network, until Queen Eleni, at the beginning of sixteenth century,
founded Martula Maryam and affiliated it with Ewostatewos network.’42 This is indicative of her
belongingness and she was not a Muslim originally because a neophyte cannot be an opponent of
the royal church and a Hadiya queen cannot be the adherent of Gojjamite monastic order versus
Teklehaymanot’s network. If Empress Eleni had been native of Hadiya and originally a Muslim,
Alvarez, who was in the court of Lebna Dengel for about five years, would have told us about
her origin and religious background. Alvarez’s informants, such as Abuna Markos and Pero de
Covilham told him so much about her but none of them told him that Eleni was a Muslim and
ethnically Hadiya. Similarly, if Empress Eleni had been a Muslim of Hadiya, she would have
been served as a bridge between Muslims and Christians and able to stop the intermittent
conflicts between the two parties. On the contrary, Eleni was anti-Muslims and this was reflected
in her letter sent to Portugal.43 In addition, if Empress Eleni had been native of Hadiya, there
would be an influx of her relatives from Hadiya to the court of Ba’eda Maryam, Eskender, Naod
and Lebna Dengel as Mentwab’s brothers did in the palace of Bakaffa44 and Wubit’s close

41
Ibid. p.226
42
Anais Woin, “Why did King Fasiladas kill his brother? Sharing Power in the Royal Family in Mid Seventeenth

Century Ethiopia,” in Journal of Early Modern History, 8(3-4) (Paris: 2004),pp.16-17

43
Sergew Hable-Selassie, “The Geez Letters of Queen Eleni and Lebna Dengel, to John, King of Portugal,” in IV

Congresso Internazionale di Studi Ethipici,2vols.(Rome: 1974),p.555

44
Weld Blundell(ed.), The Royal Chronicles of Abyssinia,1769-1840,(London: Cambridge University

Press,1922,pp.70-72

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45
relatives in the palace of Iyoas. Alvarez tells us that Empress Eleni was the governor of
Gojjam. Her kingdom and the church constructed there by her order were reported as follows:
There is another kingdom of the Prester, named Gojame, of which a great part belonged to
Queen Helena….I heard Pero de Covilham says that he had gone by order of Queen Helena
to show how an altar should be made in a church which she had ordered to be built in this
kingdom, where they buried her and they made this altar of wood, and covered it all over
with gold, and also the altar stone was of solid gold.46

Similarly, the chronicler of Iyasu I (1682-1706) stated that the church of Martula Maryam was
built by Empress Eleni. The chronicle states፡
ወሖረ ወበጽሐ ኀበ ቤተክርሰቲያን እንተ ሀለዎት ቅርብተ ጥቃ ከተማሁ ዘሰፈረ ወኀደረ
ቦቱ እንተ ይእቲ መርጡላ ለንግሰተ ሰማይ ወምድር እግዝእተ ኩልነ ቅድስት ድንግል በ፪
ማርያም ወላዲተ አምላክ ዘለክብረ ንጽሐ ይደሉ ሰጊድ እንተ ሐነፀታ እሌኒ ንግስት
ብዕሲተ ንጉሥ በእደ ማርያም ሠናየ ህንፀተ በወርቅ ወበብሩር ከመ መቅደሰ ሰሎሞን
ጠቢብ”47
(He (Iyasu) went and reached a church which was nearest to the place where he camped and
passed the night and this church is the house of queen of heaven and earth our lady Saint
Virgin Mary in flesh and conscience and mother of God and for her purity deserves
kneeling down. The church was nicely built by Queen Eleni, wife of Ba’eda Maryam with
gold and silver as the Synagogue of Solomon-the wisest).

The enquiries of Iyasu the great about Martula Maryam elaborated as:
ወኀሠሠ አዕሩገ እለ ሀለው ህየ ወየአምሩ ነገረ ወግዕ ዘይእቲ ቤተክርስቲያን ወረከቦሙ
ወተስእሎሙ እንዘ ይብል እፎ ነበረት ይእቲ ቤተክርስቲያን ወመኑ ውዕቱ ዘሐነፃ
ወአውስእዎ እሙንቱ ወዜነውዎ እንዘ ይብሉ ኦ እግዚእነ ንጉሥ ሐናጺሃሰ እሌኒ ንግስት
ይእቲ ወንብረታሃ ለይእቲ ቤተክርሰቲያን ጥቀ ሠናየ እምኩሎን አብያተ ክርስቲያናት እለ

45
Sergew Gelaw(ed.), Ya Ityopia Tarik (A History of Ethiopia),(Addis Ababa: Berhanena Selam Printing

Press,2002E.C) ,p.78.
46
Lord Stanley(trans.), Narrative of, p.350
47
Ignatius Guidi(ed.), ‘Annales Iohannes I, Iyasu I Et Bakaffa’ in Scriptores Æthiopici Series Altera-Tomus
V,(Lipsiae: Otto Harrassowitz, 1903),p.72

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ሀለዋ ውስተ አድባራት በባህር ወበየብስ፡፡ ወነበረት ይእቲ እምኔሆን ሠናይተ

ህንፃ፤ወዕድምተ ሱራሬ፤ ወክብርተ ዝክር፤ወልዕልተ ዜና፡፡ወካህናቲሃኒ አዕናቁ እለ ነበሩ
ኀቤሃ ወሊቆሙ ይሰመይ ርእሰ ርኡሳን ወምኔቱ ይእቲ ለአቡነ አባ ገብረ ኢየሱስ
ዘእምደቂቀ ቤቱ ለአቡነ ኤዎስጣቴዎስ”48
(Iyasu searched for elders who were living around and know the history of this church and
after he found them he asked by saying that how was the church and by whom it was built.
They responded and told him saying that O our lord- king, the builder of this church was
Queen Eleni and the property of this church was too nice from all churches which were in
the mountains of the islands and dry lands. It was nicely built more than others, beautiful
with its foundation, remembered with celebrity and great with its history. And the priests
there were emeralds and the leader of them was called head of heads and head of the
monastery was called Abba Gebre- Iyesus who was one of the sons from the house of our
father Ewostatewos).

Tadesse acknowledges that Gebre-Iyesus was the disciple of Abba Ewostatewos. He tells that
‘Gebre-Iyesus was one of the early disciples of Ewostatewos and said to have accompanied his
master to Egypt, the Holy Land, and Cyprus’.49
In addition, Tekle-Iyesus testifies that Eleni was native of Gojjam. He states that ‘የአጼ በእደ
ማርያም ሚስት እሌኒ ንግሥት የእነብሴና የእነሴ ባላባት ናት፡ …ንግሥት እሌኒ የአጼ በእደ
ማርያም ሚስት ናዖድና እስክንድርን የወለደችቱ መርጡለማርያምን ደብራለች::’50(Emperor
Ba’eda Maryam’s wife, Empress Eleni, was a notable of Ennäbse and Ennäse…. Empress Eleni,
who was the wife of Emperor Ba’eda Maryam and the mother of Eskender and Naod, has built
the church of Martula Maryam). In contrast to the above testimonies, some writers considered
that Empress Eleni was childless. Tellez, for example, asserts:
Naod reigned at 13 years, and left the crown to his son Lebna Danguil otherwise called
David, then an infant and during his minority the Empire was governed by his mother
Magueza, [Naod Mogesa] and the Empress Helen, who had been wife to the Emperor Beda

48
Ibid.
49
Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia, 1270-1527,( Unpublished PhD. Dissertation, University of
London, 1968), P.387
50
Girma Getahun(ed.), Ya Gojjam Tewled Bamulu ka Abbay eska Abbay(A Genealogical History of Gojjam from

Abbay to Abbay),(Addis Ababa: Addis Ababa University Press, 2003 E.C.),p.35

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Mariam, much respected by all men, for her singular gravity and wisdom. This lady had
neither son nor daughter, but enjoyed many lands left to her in the kingdom of Gojam by
her husband, was very rich, and performed extraordinary works.51

Similarly, Rey claims that 'Queen Helena (Eleni) had been one of the four wives of Baeda
Maryam, who reigned from 1468to1478, the only one of the four who was childless.’52 As a
matter of fact, Ba’eda Maryam’s sons Eskender and Naod were born to Eleni aka Romna.
Concerning the sons of Ba’eda Maryam, the scribe states ‘ወነገሮ ለንጉሥ ከመ ተወልደ ህጻን
እምእግዝእትነ ሮምና’53(They told the king that a baby was born to our queen Romna). The
chronicler further narrates that ‘ወካዕበ ተወልደ በህየ ህጻን እምሮምና እግዝእት ወሰመየ ስሞ
እንቆ እሥራኤል’54(Again, a baby was born in that place to our queen Romna and called his
name EnqoIsrael). Enqo Israel was another name of Naod but the writer did not state whether
this name was another name of Naod or not just like that of Eleni and Romna. Romna was
another name of Eleni, Accordingly, Budge vindicates that Eskender and Enqo Israel were the
two sons of Empress Eleni. 55
Taddesse argues that Empress Eleni re-emerged as a queen mother in the court of Eskender after
the disappearance of Romna.56 Taddesse’s argument that Eleni and Romna were two different
women is inaccurate. As stated in the chronicle, Romna was the mother of the two sons of Baeda
Maryam and the claim of Taddesse that Eleni emerged after the disappearance of Romna as
another queen mother is improbable. Officially known wives of Ba’eda Maryam were Žan Säyfa
and Eleni and if Romna was the name of another woman, it is unlikely to be called our queen and

51
Balthazar Tellez, The Travels of the Jesuits in Ethiopia: Containing the Geographical description of all the
kingdoms, and Provinces of that Empire; the Natural and Political History; the Manners, Customs and
Religion of the People, (London: J. Knapton, 1710), p. 113
52
Charless [Link], The Romance of the Portuguese in Abyssinia, 1490-1633, (New York: Negro University Press,

1969,rpt),p.28
53
Jules Perruchon (ed.), Les Chroniques Zara Yaeqob, p.156
54
Ibid. p.161
55
Wallis [Link], A History of Ethiopia, Nubia and Abyssinia, (Oosterhout N. B.: Anthropological

Publications,vol.I,1970), p.319

56
Taddesse, Church and State, p.289

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more specifically, her sons would not be successors of their father because they were illegitimate
according to the then tradition. If Empress Eleni had been childless, as claimed by some writers,
two things would be unlikely to happen. Firstly, the question of marriage alliance between sons
and daughters of Ethiopian and Portuguese royal families would not be an issue for childless
Eleni. However, marriage was one of the issues of Empress Eleni. Interestingly, her demand was
not limited to one time marriage rather a continuous marriage alliance between the royal families
of Ethiopia and Portugal.57 Secondly, the so-called childless Eleni cannot be a regent of Lebna
Dengel. Unless Eleni was the grandmother of Lebna Dengel, it is really unthinkable to assume
the position of regency. It is unlikely to stay in the court of Eskender and Naod let alone to be a
regent of Lebna Dengel in her old age.
It is beyond a shadow of doubt that Empress Eleni was the regent of Lebna Dengel and as
stated by Alvarez, she was responsible for the designation of him for the throne. Alvarez relates
that ‘Abima Martos [Abuna Markos] told me that he and Queen Helena made him king, because
they had all the great men in their hands.’58Furthermore, Eleni was mentioned as the mother of
Lebna Dengel. Alvarez states that ‘they were with him [Lebna Dengel], as they said, the Queen
his wife, the Queen his mother, who is Queen Helena.’59 In the book of Alvarez, the biological
mother of Lebna Dengel was mentioned two times, once while she was in life, and then after her
death when the Portuguese missionaries conducting a memorial service for her by the order of
her son. In a similar way, Eleni was mentioned as the mother of Lebna Dengel two times.60
Moreover, Lebna Dengel himself tells us that Empress Eleni was his mother. In his letter sent to
a Portuguese King, Don Manuel, Lebna Dengel described her as follows:
When I enquire, they told me how Matheus had died as soon as he entered my countries,
[country] at the monastery of Bisan. I did not sent him, but Queen Helena sent him who
governed me as my mother, because at that time I was eleven years of age, for I
remained of that age at the death of my father, when I succeeded the crown of my
kingdoms, and the Queen Helena governed for me.61

57
Sergew Hable-Selassie, “The Geez Letters of Eleni, p.555
58
Lord Stanley (trans.), Narrative of, p.143
59
Ibid. ,p.223
60
Ibid. ,See pages, 226, 258, 298
61
Ibid. pp.390-391

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Eleni, in fact, was the grandmother of Emperor Lebna Dengel and the reason why she was
mentioned as his mother by Alvarez and Lebna Dengel himself is because of the common
tradition of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. For example, Lebna Dengel was the great grandson
of Zara Yaeqob but the chronicle asserts that he was his son. In line with the above description,
Tsega Zä Ab, a contemporary of Empress Eleni and who was the ambassador of Emperor Lebna
Dengel to Portugal, acknowledges that Empress Eleni was the grandmother of Emperor Lebna
Dengel. His testimony about Eleni is elaborated as follows:
Nahod having reigned 13 years was succeeded by his son Lebna Danguil, or David, who
being a child at his father’s death, the empire during his minority was managed by his
grandmother Helena, who had been wife to Emperor Beda Mariam, and who for her
admirable wisdom and learning, was highly esteemed by all sorts of people. She had a great
dowry in the kingdom of Gojam, where she built the stateliest church that had ever been
seen in Ethiopia.62
Even in the title of the letter sent to King Emanuel, it was stated, ‘The letters of Helena grand-
mother of David, the precious John, to Emanuel, King of Portugal, written in the year
1509.’63This conclusive evidence presented above clearly shows Empress Eleni’s identity.
Initially, the regent of Lebna Dengel was his own biological mother; Naod Mogäsa and Eleni
were counselors. It is stated in the chronicle of Lebna Dengel that “ወአሜሃ ትትሜገብ
መንግስት በትዕዛዘ ወላዲቱ ንግሥት ናዖድ ሞገሣ ወበምክረ ካልዕታ ንግሥት እሌኒ እስመ
የአምራ ሠሪአ ቤተ መንግስት ወፈድፋደሰ ዛቲ ጠባብ እሌኒ ተአምር ሕገ መንግስት በታዕካ ፫
ነገሥት64(At that time the kingdom was ruled with an order of his mother, Queen Naod Mogäsa
and with the counsel of the second, Queen Eleni, who was knowledgeable how to rule a kingdom
and more specifically, the wisest Eleni was experienced in how to rule a kingdom in the court of
three kings).

Here, the three kings before Lebna Dengel, refers to Naod, Eskender and Baeda Maryam. As
stated above, the wisest Eleni came to power as a regent of Lebna Dengel after the death of his

62
Michael Geddes, The Church History of Ethiopia, (London: Chismell, 1696), p. 42
63
Ibid. P.45
64
Herausgegen Von and Manfred Kropp(eds.), Die Geschichte Des Lebna-Dengel, Cludius Und Minas, in

Scriptores Æthiopici Tomus 83,(Lovanii: InAedibus [Link], 1988), p.3

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mother, Naod Mogäsa. Eleni’s wisdom and religious knowledge eulogized by her contemporary,
Tsega Zä Ab, as follows:
Queen Helena, who was dowager Empress; The Hand of Mary who was grandfather to
David, and who, David being underage, at that time was Regent of Ethiopia; she was
undoubtedly the wisest and religious princess, and was mistress of so much learning, that
she composed two books in the Chaldee Tongue[Ge’ez]: The title of the first was
Euzara Clebaa,[Säbehewo Bäenzira?] that is to say, praise the Lord with organs; in
which she discoursed learnedly concerning the Trinity, and the Virginity of the Blessed
Virgin; The second is called Chedale Caay[Tsedale Tsehay], that is, the Beam of the
Sun, in which she has divers accurate discourses concerning the law of God.65

The charismatic quality of Empress Eleni is really unparalleled. At first, Rey asserted that Eleni
was childless, but later on he verified that she was the mother of Eskender and Naod and the
great grandmother of multitudes. In his genealogical table of Ethiopian Emperors from 1468 to
1632, Empress Eleni’s sons and grandsons were depicted as follows:

65
Geddes, The Church History of Ethiopia, pp.114-115

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It was on the above justification that Susenyos attempted to reconstruct the church of Martula
Maryam. The endeavour of Susenyos to restore the church was reported by Almeida as follows:

It (Nebesse) was the place situated in the interior of Gojam, an important district,
which in the past belonged to Queen Elena, who had founded there a renowned church,
as we said in book three of this history. As the emperor was the great grandson of King
David, who was raised by Queen Elena as a son, and on whose behalf she governed the
kingdom several years; he greatly desired to restore this church and for the sake of the

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memory of Empress Elena, he granted a good part of the gold of two altar stones,
which had escaped the destruction committed first by Gragh [Gragn] and then by the
Gallas.66

It is pretty clear that Empress Eleni was native of Gojjam and this expressed by different sources
either wittingly or unwittingly. For instance, Eskender, the successor of Baeda Maryam, was sent
to Gojjam to be the son of Anbäsa Dawit, Gojjam Nägash. The scribe states that ‘ወወሃበ
እስክንድርሃ ወልዶ ከመ ይኩኖ ወልደ’67(He gave his son, Eskender, to be the son (of Anbäsa
Dawit).Even though the writer did not tell us anything about the relationship between Anbäsa
Dawit and Eleni, Anbäsa Dawit might have been a close relative of Eleni. Taddesse contends
that Eskender was sent to Gojjam to stay with his foster father, King of Gojjam.68 In reality,
Eskender was not sent to stay there but to be the son of Anbäsa Dawit. It is unthinkable to
consider that Eskender, the first son of Emperor Baeda Maryam, was sent to grow under the
protection of unrelated Anbäsa Dawit, rather it appears that Eleni sent her son Eskender to
Gojjam to grow there under the protection of her relative, Anbäsa Dawit, in attending the
traditional education system in her homeland. Eskender might have attended his education at
Däbraworq because he and his son Amdäseyon II and his daughter, Martha, were buried
there.69Moreover, the wives of Naod and Lebna Dengel, Eleni’s son and grandson respectively,
were natives of [Link]äsa also known as Maryam Kebra was native of Lämchän, East
Gojjam.70Säblä wängel, wife of Lebna Dengel, was also native of Ennämay, East
Gojjam.71Unless Eleni herself was native of Gojjam, it is unthinkable to send her son to grow
there and recruit the wives of her son and grandson only from Gojjam. Empress Eleni was well
known among her posterity and as a result, Empress Mentewab, aka Berhan Mogäsa, the wife of

66
Jonathan Good (trans.), “Reflections on the Notion of Empire and ‘Kingdom’ in the Seventeenth Century Ethiopia:

Royal Power and Local Power,” in Journal of Early Modern History, 8, 3-4 (2004),p.30
67
Jules Perrucon (ed.), Les Chroniques Zara Yaeqob, p.160
68
Taddesse , “Ethiopia in Miniature, p.959
69
Sergew(ed.), Ya Ityopia Tarik, p.37
70
Girma(ed.), Ya Gojjam Tewled, p.35
71
Ibid. p.36, See also Sergew(ed.), Ya Itypia Tarik, p.49 Here Tekle Iyasus tells us that Sabla Wangel has built a

famous church called Mangesta Samay in her homeland just like that of Empress Eleni.

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Emperor Bakaffa (1721-1730) and, who was the adherent of a Qebat (Unction) sect was
nicknamed as Dagmawit Eleni or Eleni II and the daughter of Abba Ewastatewos.72 The above
expression signifies that Empress Eleni belonged to Gojjam and there was only one empress by
the name Eleni anterior to Mentewab.
Despite the fact that the aforementioned writers had attempted to associate Eleni`s background
with the Muslim community of Hadiya, there is no evidence that shows the interaction between
Eleni and Hadiya community. On the other hand, there is no evidence that Eleni had faced a kind
of discrimination because of her religions background and ethnicity. Rather, Empress Eleni was
very much respected as if she was the mother and father of all, among court officials in her long
court life, more than half a century (1468-1525).73 The love of court officials and their belief
towards Eleni expressed as ‘There was a great rumour and talk at the court about the death of
Queen Helena. They said that since she had died all of them would die great and small, and that
while she lived, all lived and were defended and protected, she was the father and mother of
all.’74 The expression of Alvarez shows that Eleni was very much beloved by her people until her
death.
Conclusion
Empress Eleni was immensely popular and her all-round qualities rarely seen among her
posterity. She was an outstanding politician, skilled diplomat, a devout Christian and a leading
protagonist of the House of Ewostatewos network and she was also the author of two religious

72
Kendeneh Endeg,”Monks and Monarchs: Christological controversy of the Ethiopian Church and Its Impacts on

the State, (1632-1878)”, (Ph.D. Dissertation, State University of Florida, 2011), pp.105-106.
73
Bell, as cited by Rita, claims that Empress Eleni died in 1522. Other sources narrate differently. Girma and Merid

state that she died in 1525. See Girma Beshah and Merid Wolde Aregay, The Union of the Churches in Luso-

Ethiopian Relations, p.172 Huntigford claims that Eleni died in 1526, See, Richard Pankhurst (ed.), The Historical

Geography of Ethiopia: From the First Century AD to 1704, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989), p.112, James

Bruce makes it in 1525, see, Travels to Discover the Source of Nile, Vol. II, p.161. In my opinion the assertions of

Bruce, Girma and Merid are correct because Alvarez, who was in Ethiopia from 1520 to 1526 told us that the death

of Empress Eleni was eight or nine months before he returned to the court of Lebna Dengel in 1526 from northern

Ethiopia. See Lord Stanley, p.321

74
Lord Stanley (trans.), Narrative of the Portuguese Embassy to Abyssinia, p.330

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books. In her long political career Eleni was highly influential and it was in favour of her that the
sons and grandsons of Emperor Ba’eda Maryam succeeded to the throne and ruled Ethiopia
under her counseling. In her wisdom, Eleni was very much respected and admired by all sorts of
people in the court of Ba’eda Maryam, Eskender, Naod and Lebna Dengel. In general, she was
the paragon of empresses.
It is disappointing, however, that by misquoting Ite Žan Zela, sister of Mahiko and daughter of
Mehemad instead of Empress Eleni, wife of Baeda Maryam, the identity of Eleni remained
distorted as if she was originally a Muslim, ethnically Hadiya and childless. At the end of the
day, as the Amharic saying goes aptly ‘Iwnätena Negat Iyadär Yetäral’ (Truth and dawn
gradually gets crystal clear) the actual identity of Empress Eleni reappeared quite clearly.
Moreover, it is safe to conclude that there is neither any irrefutable evidence that signifies as
Empress Eleni was the consort of Emperor Zar’a Yaeqob, nor any clue that indicates her
belongingness to Hadiya. Rather, she was the consort of Emperor Baeda Maryam and native of
[Link] is no circumstantial evidence that shows that Empress Eleni was originally a
Muslim. Eleni was a devout Christian and knowledgeable with church dogmas and canons and
more specifically she was an ardent supporter of the Ewostatewos movement. Above all, the life
of Empress Eleni was highly associated with the kingdom of Gojjam. She had been the governor
of the kingdom until her death and she built a famous church and was buried there. All these are
indicative of her belongingness. Eleni was also the mother of Emperor Eskender and Emperor
Naod and the grandmother of Emperor Lebna Dengel and the great grandmother of early modern
Ethiopian Emperors. So the assertion that Eleni was a wife of Zar’a Yaeqob, ethnically Hadiya
and originally a Muslim did not emanate from the indisputable evidence they have, rather it
appears from speculative errors of these writers. The claim that Empress Eleni was childless is
also utterly inaccurate. As far as the then Ethiopian political system is concerned, it is really
absurd to be influential and remain in power for a long period of time for a widow without a
child from her consort to be crowned, and whose ethnic and religious background was outside of
court officials. Accordingly, the claim of some Ethiopian and foreign writers that childless Eleni
remained influential in the court of Eskender and Naod and finally became a regent of Lebna
Dengel in her old age is all in all far-fetched because their claim is not supported either by the
internal evidence in the chronicle of Emperor Zara Ya’eqob and Ba’eda Maryam or by other
external sources.

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