The Zemene Mesafint (Ge'ez: ዘመነ መሳፍንት, variously translated "Era of Judges", "Era of the Princes", etc.; taken from the biblical Book of Judges) was a period in Ethiopian history between the mid-18th and mid-19th centuries when the country was ruled by a class of Oromo elite noblemen who replaced Habesha nobility in their courts, making the emperor merely a figurehead.[1] For the most part, the regional lords were tightly related by marriage and constituted a stable ruling elite that prevailed until the mid-20th century. In short, during the Zemene Mesafint, the Emperors from the Solomonic dynasty were reduced to little more than figureheads confined to the capital city of Gondar.
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The most powerful lords during the Zemene Mesafint were from the House of Yejju, a dynasty that included Ali I of Yejju, Aligaz, Gugsa and Ali II based in Yejju, a region in Wollo. Other regional lords included Kenfu Hailu of Gondar, Ras Dullu Menz, Ras Hailu Yosedeq of Gojjam, Sabagadis Woldu of Tigre, Ras Wolde Selassie of Tigre, Wube Haile Mariam of Simien, and provincial king Sahle Selassie of Shewa.[2]
The lords fought against each other for the expansion of their territory and to become the guardians of the kings of kings in Gondar, the capital of the empire at the time. The monarchy continued only in name because of its sacred character. This nominal but divinely ordained monarchy preserved the dynasty from actual extinction.[2]
The Zemene Mesafint period came to an end when a local outlaw, Kassa Hailu, would challenge the supremacy of the Oromo princes over the Abyssinian kingdom. Hailu gained support from the locals and defeated Oromo lords and princes and would throne himself as Tewodros II, attempting to fulfill a prophecy that a man named Tewodros would restore the Ethiopian Empire to greatness and rule for 40 years.[3][4]
^Abba Bahrey’s Zenahu Legalla: Towards an Ethiopian critical theory - JSTOR. (n.d.-a). https://www.jstor.org/stable/41756933
^ abShiferaw Bekele, The State in the Zamana Masafent (1786-1853), p. 25
^Gashu Abebe, Semahagn (2016). The Last Post-Cold War Socialist Federation Ethnicity, Ideology and Democracy in Ethiopia. Connecticut, United States: Taylor & Francis. p. 100. ISBN 9781317026327.
^Miller, Stephen (2021). Queen Victoria's Wars British Military Campaigns, 1857-1902. Maine, United States: Cambridge University Press. p. 63. ISBN 9781108490122.
The ZemeneMesafint (Ge'ez: ዘመነ መሳፍንት, variously translated "Era of Judges", "Era of the Princes", etc.; taken from the biblical Book of Judges) was a...
under a decentralization known as ZemeneMesafint in the mid-18th century. Emperor Tewodros II ended ZemeneMesafint at the beginning of his reign in 1855...
in the prestige of the dynasty, as the beginning of the Ethiopian ZemeneMesafint ("Era of the Princes"), a time of disorder when the power of the monarchy...
realm eventually entered a period of decentralization, known as the ZemeneMesafint where regional warlords fought for power, with the emperor being a...
empire. Ethiopia was isolated and decentralized in a period known as ZemeneMesafint, starting with the rise of the Yejju Oromo dynasty after the Solomonic...
emperors. Ethiopia was briefly isolated from world power in the post-ZemeneMesafint period; Emperor Yohannes IV faced Egyptian invasion as they laid linkage...
of various regional lords and noblemen. This era was known as the ZemeneMesafint or "Era of the Princes". Emperor Tewodros II managed to unify the decentralized...
puppet in the hands of the Yejju regents. From the beginning of the ZemeneMesafint era until the defeat of Ras Ali of Yejju by Tewodros II in 1853, the...
provinces, although it was often used hereditarily during and after the ZemeneMesafint. The rulers of Begemder, Shewa, Gojjam, Wollo, all held the title of...
Fasilides in 1632 and a period of decentralization in 1769, known as the ZemeneMesafint. Gondar was founded by Emperor Fasilides in 1636 as a permanent capital...
beginning of modern Ethiopia and brought an end to the decentralized ZemeneMesafint (Era of the Princes). Although Tewodros II's origins were in the Era...
22 January 1768. He died on 23 June 1779.[citation needed] By the ZemeneMesafint, or Era of Princes (1769–1855), the province of Enderta assumed great...
and bifocal glasses. In Africa, the Ethiopian Empire underwent the ZemeneMesafint, a period when the country was ruled by a class of regional noblemen...
the Ethiopians), then unifying the empire after the dark age of the 'ZemeneMesafint' (Era of the Princes). Emperor Yohannes IV defeated an invading Egyptian...
decline in the prestige of the dynasty led to the semi-anarchic era of ZemeneMesafint ("Era of the Princes"), in which rival warlords fought for power and...
Empire from 1632 (at the beginning of Gondarine period to 1855 (end of ZemeneMesafint) era. Gondar was established in 1636 by Emperor Fasilides (r. 1632–1667)...
distance runner Haile Yosadiq, warlord of the ZemeneMesafint Haile Maryam, another warlord of the ZemeneMesafint, and father of Wube Haile Maryam Haile, the...
Zagwe dynasty Kingdom of Kaffa Ethiopian–Adal War Gondarine period ZemeneMesafint Menelik's Expansions Italo-Ethiopian wars 1887–89 First Second World...
intermittently between 1832 and 11 February 1855, towards the end of the ZemeneMesafint. He was largely a figurehead, with real power in the hands of Ras Ali...
Empress Eleni, Gojjam provided the revenues of the Empress until the ZemeneMesafint ("Era of the Judges"), when central authority was weak and the revenues...
counterparts in some respects; until 1855, when Tewodros II ended the ZemeneMesafint its aristocracy was organised similarly to the feudal system in Europe...
marriage to Alula of Yejju. She was a significant personage during the ZemeneMesafint of the 19th century before Tewodros II reunited the Ethiopian Empire...
a Thai feudal system Samanta, an Indian feudal system Small castes ZemeneMesafint François Louis Ganshof (1944). Qu'est-ce que la féodalité. Translated...
Gebre of Simien, ruled for 44 years during the period known as the ZemeneMesafint, or the "Era of the Princes". His fame was acknowledged through two...
be de facto rulers of Ethiopian Empire from 1784 to 1853 during the ZemeneMesafint, they would particularly have control over the provinces of Begemder...
(1814-1868?) of Gojjam was a nobleman of 19th century Ethiopia during the ZemeneMesafint. He was the governor of most of Gojjam until his defeat in battle of...
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