Za Dengel ( Ge'ez: ዘድንግል; died 24 October 1604), throne name Atsnaf Sagad II (Ge'ez: አጽናፍ ሰገድ) was

Emperor of Ethiopia The emperor of Ethiopia ( gez, ንጉሠ ነገሥት, nəgusä nägäst, "King of Kings"), also known as the Atse ( am, ዐፄ, "emperor"), was the hereditary monarchy, hereditary ruler of the Ethiopian Empire, from at least the 13th century ...

from 1603 until his death in 1604, and a member of the

Solomonic dynasty The Solomonic dynasty, also known as the House of Solomon, was the ruling dynasty of the Ethiopian Empire formed in the thirteenth century. Its members claim lineal descent from the biblical King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Tradition asser ...

Ancestry

Of Amhara lineage, Za dengel was the son of Lesana Krestos; brother of Emperor Sarsa Dengel.

Reign

Za Dengel may have been married to ''Woizero'' Wangelawit, eldest daughter of his second cousin

Susenyos Susenyos I ( gez, ሱስንዮስ ; circa 1571-1575 – 17 September 1632), also known as Susenyos the Catholic, was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1606 to 1632, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. His throne names were Seltan Sagad and Malak Sagad ...

(later emperor) and lady Wolde Saala of Walaqa and Marabete (later Empress Sultan Mogassa). Sarsa Dengel had intended to make his nephew as his heir, recognizing that to avert the civil war that would likely follow his death an adult would be needed, and the emperor's own sons were quite young. These plans were changed primarily through the influence of Empress Sena Maryam, stepmother of Emperor's eldest surviving son Prince Yaqob, who was made emperor in 1597. The empress had Za Dengel seized and confined in a religious retreat on the island of Dek in

Lake Tana Lake Tana ( am, ጣና ሐይቅ, T’ana ḥāyik’i; previously Tsana) is the largest lake in Ethiopia and the source of the Blue Nile. Located in Amhara Region in the north-western Ethiopian Highlands, the lake is approximately long and ...

. Za Dengel eventually managed to escape, taking refuge in Gojjam. In 1603, Za Dengel was made Emperor by

Ras Ras or RAS may refer to: Arts and media * RAS Records Real Authentic Sound, a reggae record label * Rundfunk Anstalt Südtirol, a south Tyrolese public broadcasting service * Rás 1, an Icelandic radio station * Rás 2, an Icelandic radio sta ...

Za Sellase, who intended Za Dengel to be little more than a figurehead. He was crowned as Asnaf Segad ('He to whom the horizons bow'). However, Za Dengel summoned the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

Pedro Páez to his court at Dankaz, who persuaded him to embrace

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. This religious conversion led to Za Sellase not only withdrawing his support, but actively working against him and stirred up a revolt in Gojjam. Za Dengel marched to the plain of Bartcho to put down this revolt, but despite the help of 200 Portuguese

musketeer A musketeer (french: mousquetaire) was a type of soldier equipped with a musket. Musketeers were an important part of early modern warfare particularly in Europe as they normally comprised the majority of their infantry. The musketeer was a pr ...

s Za Dengel perished in battle on 24 October. According to James Bruce, Za Dengel's corpse lay unclaimed on the battlefield for three days, until some peasants buried it "in a little building, like a chapel (which I have seen), not above six feet high, under the shade of a very fine tree, in Abyssinia called sassa." The body was reinterred 10 years later in

Daga Estifanos Daga may refer to: People * Daga (wrestler), Mexican professional wrestler *Dagmara Wozniak, American Olympic saber fencer Geography * Daga District, Bhutan * Daga, Bhutan Daga , also officially referred to as Dagana, is a town in Goshi Gewog, ...

monastery on

Daga Island Daga Island (Amharic: ደጋ ደሴት ''Däga Däset'') is an island located in the southeastern part of Lake Tana in Ethiopia. Southeast of the much larger Dek Island, Daga has a latitude and longitude of . The entire island, consisting of a vo ...

in Lake Tana.James Bruce, ''Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile'' (1805 edition), vol. 3, pp. 270f

Ancestry

Reign

Notes

References

Further reading