Debre Bizen is an

Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church The Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( ti, ቤተ ክርስትያን ተዋህዶ ኤርትራ) is one of the Oriental Orthodox Churches with its headquarters in Asmara, Eritrea. Its autocephaly was recognised by Pope Shenouda III of Alexandri ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

. Located at the top of Debre Bizen the mountain (2460 meters) near the town of

Nefasit Nefasit ( ar, نفاسيت, ), also known as Tappa Nefasit, is a small town in the Northern Red Sea Region of Eritrea. Monastery of Debre Bizen is located at the mountains above. According to multiple tour groups the stretch between the capital ...

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

. Its library contains many important Ge'ez manuscripts.

History

Debre Bizen was founded in the 1350s by Filipos, who was a student of Absadi. By 1400, the Monastery followed the rule of the House of

Ewostatewos Ewostatewos ( gez, ኤዎስጣቴዎስ, or Yostatewos (Ge'ez: ዮስታንቲዎስ), a version of grc, Εὐστάθιος ''Eustathios''; 22 July 1273 – 23 September 1352) was an Ethiopian religious leader of the Orthodox Tewahedo during t ...

( grc, Εὐστάθιος ''Eustáthios''), and a ''gadl'' (

hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies migh ...

) of Ewostatewos was later composed there. According to Tom Killion, it remained independent of the

Ethiopian Church The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን, ''Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan'') is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Chris ...

, while

Richard Pankhurst Richard Marsden Pankhurst (1834 – 5 July 1898) was an English barrister and socialist who was a strong supporter of women's rights. Early life Richard Pankhurst was the son of Henry Francis Pankhurst (1806–1873) and Margaret Marsden (180 ...

states that it continued to be dependent on the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church centered in Axum. In either case, a charter survives of the Emperor

Zara Yaqob Zara Yaqob ( Ge'ez: ዘርዐ ያዕቆብ; 1399 – 26 August 1468) was Emperor of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty who ruled under the regnal name Kwestantinos I (Ge'ez: ቈስታንቲኖስ, "Constantine"). He is known for t ...

in which he granted lands to Debre Bizen. The monastery was one of several habitations damaged by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

in their campaigns to establish their province of

Habesh Eyalet , common_name = Habesh Eyalet , subdivision = Eyalet , nation = the Ottoman Empire , year_start = 1554 , year_end = 1872 , life_span = , date_start = ...

in the 16th century. When

Abuna Yohannes XIV Abuna (or Abune, which is the status constructus form used when a name follows: Ge'ez አቡነ ''abuna''/''abune'', 'our father'; Amharic and Tigrinya) is the honorific title used for any bishop of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church as w ...

, who came from

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

to Ethiopia to serve as head of the Ethiopian Church, was held for ransom at

Arkiko Arkiko ( ar, حرقيقو, Afar and Saho: ''Hirg-Higo'', alternately Archigo, Arqiqo, Ercoco, Hirgigo, Hargigo or Harkiko) is a town in the Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea. Situated on the Red Sea, it lies on the mainland across from the city ...

by the local

naib Nawab ( Balochi: نواب; ar, نواب; bn, নবাব/নওয়াব; hi, नवाब; Punjabi : ਨਵਾਬ; Persian, Punjabi , Sindhi, Urdu: ), also spelled Nawaab, Navaab, Navab, Nowab, Nabob, Nawaabshah, Nawabshah or Nobab, ...

, the

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

of Debre Bizen helped him to escape.Richard R.K. Pankhurst, ''The Ethiopian Royal Chronicles'' (Oxford: Addis Ababa, 1967), pp. 125-9.

References

{{reflist

History

See also

References

Further reading