of Ethiopie Th' Original or else the Copie Gregory being question'd concerning him made answer That the Report of him reach'd Egypt and the Countries next adjoyning and he had heard from the Governess of Ruma being a Woman of noble descent that Tzagax came to her and told her he was the Son of Arzo who was the Brother of Zadenghel the Son of Lesana and Grandchild to Menas The same thing he affirm'd to his Countrymen in Egypt and to those that liv'd at Jerusalem For to them he did not dare to counterfeit himself the Son of Jacob in regard they well knew that Jacob was slain in the Eighteenth year of his Age or thereabout without any legitimate off-spring But for Arzo he liv'd an obscure life and whether he had any Children or no there was no body knew Let us now therefore return to Susneus Susneus descended from the Royal Line bigg tall and strong Limb'd and in such a Body a large Soul His Countenance affable and pleasing with a high Nose and thin Lips nothing different from the Europeans but only in colour He was Prudent Courteous and Liberal and well read in the Ethiopic Books and which is most necessary to him that will ruffle for a Crown he was Warlike Patient of Labour and had among the Gallans learnt to be Content with any sort of Dyet However he was unhappy during his Reign by reason of his continual Wars and the frequent Rebellions of his Subjects whom he sent to compel by force to submit to what he thought convenient to enjoyn them He swore obedience to the Pope before he had weigh'd what benefit he might get by it And therefore toward his latter End he was forc'd to indulge that Liberty for the maintaining of which many Thousands had already lost their Lives He dy'd in September in the Year 1632. leaving several Sons and Daughters behind him Basilides by his Inauguration name Seltan Saghed after the Death of Marc his Eldest Brother succeeded the Father Who to quiet the Minds of his Subjects Exterminated the Jesuits together with their Patriarch out of all his Dominions so that he would not permit the Portugals a Priest to say Mass which the severity of Menas allow'd them All the rest of his Brothers if the Fidelity of Tellezius do not here give way to his Passion he put to death upon bare allegation of Crimes committed Neither do we know any thing more of certainty concerning him he refusing any farther Commerce with the Europeans for fear of the Forces for which he heard the Fathers were solliciting both at Rome and in Portugal to revenge the Indignities he had put upon them After this I saw certain Letters which the King of Abysinia Af-Saghed the Son of Alam Saghed sent to the Governour of Batavia written in Arabic of which we shall have occasion to say more in another place for I am not certain whether or no Basilides did not make use of a double Sirname nor whether he were the Father of that same Af-Saghed I have here inserted a Genealogic Table of the Last Kings of Habessinia which I had from Gregory but now more Corrected out of Tellezius A GENEALOGIC TABLE of the Kings of Habessinia from BAEDA-MARJAM Son of Zara-Jacob Grandchild of Amda-Jesu who liv'd about the year of Christ 1460. to the Reign of Basilides 1632 c. BAEDA-Marjam Son of Zara-Jacob otherwise Amda Jesu Born about the year 1465. whose Second Wife was Helena 1. ALEXANDER came to the Crown about the year 1475 and dyed without Children 1490. 2. AMDA-SION dy'd in the year 1491. after he had Reign'd Six Months 3. Naod fetch'd from the Rock of Amhara to the Crown dy'd in the year 1504. leaving his Widow Moghesa behind 1. N.N. The Eldest born in the Rock Amhara before his Father came to the Crown therefore forc'd to yield to the Second Brother 2. David Sirnam'd Etana-Denghel Lebna-Denghel and Wanag-Denghel Born about the year 1492. made King 1504. dy'd 1540. leaving his Widow Kabelo-Wanghel behind 3. Romana Warck wife 1. to N. N. 2. to Abucher 4. N. N. who Escap'd from the Rock of Amhara 1. Victor in the Field Slain before his Father's Death 2. Claudius Sirnam'd Atnaf-Saghed Born toward the end of 1522 made King 1540. Slain March 1559. in a Battel against the Adelans 3. Jacob dy'd before his Brother Claudius 4. Menas Sirnam'd Adamaes-Saghed made King 1559. Slain in Battel April 20. 1562. 5. N. 6. N. 7. N. three Daughters of whom Alvarez c. 61. Tascar's Natural Son made King by the Rebels in Opposition to his Uncle taken in Fight July 1561. and thrown Head-long from a Rock 2. Basilides Slain in a Battel against the Gallans His Wife was Hamel-Mala the Viceroy of Amhara's Widow who had Three Sons Rasselach Afach and Almanach 3. Zertza-Denghel otherwise Malech-Saghed made King 1562 and dy'd 1579. His Wife was Marjam-Sena AQUIETER ABALE Lecanaxos Susneus Sirnam'd Malech Saghed then Seltan Saghed Born 1571. made King Jacob being slain March 10. 1607. dy'd Sept. 1632. He had many Wives but dismissed all except the First N. N. The Wife of Ras-Athanasius Jacob a Natural Son Born 1589. Made King at 7 years of Age call'd the Infant King depos'd 1603 Recall'd 1604. Slain March 10. 1607. Za-Marjam another Natural Son Za-Denghel alias Atznaf-Saghed Born 1577 Slain in Battel by his own Son Octob. 13. 1604. Arzo whose Son Tzaga-Christos called himself Lecanaxos Marcus These two Deceas'd before their Father Malacotawit Wife of Elias Viceroy of Tigra-Basilides sirnam'd Seltan-Saghed then Alam-Saghed Born 1607. made King 1632. Claudius Basilides Brother by the Father's side Canafraxos Jacobus Justus Za-Denghel Za-Marjam Lebna-Denghel and others For as Tellez writes he left 25 Sons and many Daughters behind him as Wanghelawit the Wife of Tecla George Viceroy of Tigra N. Wife of Za-Marjam Viceroy of Bagemdra N. Wife of Anda Michael Bahrnagash 1. Constantine dy'd before his Father 2. Justus 3. David 4. John 5. Becuerta-Christos Wife to the Viceroy of Tigra with others whose Names are not known Place this Table in the Second Book between Folio 192 193. CHAP. VIII Of the Royal Succession and the Imprisonment of the Kings Children in the Rock Geshen now quite out of use Certain Succession the Safety of Kingdoms Two Bonds of Government How far Prudence how far Nobility and Power prevail Election not alwayes to be preferr'd before Succession more agreeable to Liberty The Males only succeed in Abassia Their Claim dubious hence Wars The Inconveniencies of Hereditary Kingdoms The ill Events of uncertain Succession The Imprisonment of the Kings Children Tellezius's Relation of it The Custom for 300 Years abrogated by Naod Alvarez's Relation it disagrees with Tellezius reconcil'd No president for half a Century The pleasantness of those Rocks fabulous The severe usage of those Princes there The severity of the Governour displeasing to the Prince pleas'd him when King FRom what has bin said it appears that the Succession of the Kings of Habessinia is uncertain
friendship cannot long remain in one and the same Brest and that the fruit of Treason being reap'd there is no farther need of the Traitor the King commanded him to be apprehended and carried away into the steep Mountain of Gueman in the Kingdom of Gojam He would not put him to death as not believing it became a noble Prince to take away a mans life for fear of a future crime But he making his Escape about a year after invaded Waleka where having gather'd together some Troops of Vagabonds and dissolute Persons he supported himself by Robbery and Rapine till at last making his Incursions into Gojam he was there slain by the Pagans His head being brought to the King was fix'd upon a Lance and set up before the Royal Pavillion to be view'd by all the World no man pitying his misfortune in regard that all people knew his advancement had cost the loss of so many innocent lives Not so inglorious was the end of Ras-Athanasius and yet sufficiently miserable For he every day losing more and more of the Kings favour was at length the contempt of all men Insomuch that his wife the daughter of Malec-Saghed unaccustom'd to brook indignities forsook his bed Thus once the next to Supream authority now the next to most dejected misery not able to o'recome the anguish of his mind he fell into a Fever of which he dy'd But Susneus to establish himself in his Dominion by all ways courted the friendship of the Portugueses as being skilful in the art of Gunnery and Fire-arms the chiefest terror of those Nations hoping that not without reason by their assistance to defend himself as well against his own Subjects too much addicted to Tumults and Seditions as the Kindred and Friends of the slain Kings And not only so but to render himself formidable to the Gallans To that purpose he kindly receiv'd the Fathers of the Society then living in Dembea He sent for Peter-Pays and most courteously gave ear to him and treated him as his familiar Friend And as he was favourable and bountiful to them so did he dayly afford many testimonies of his kindness to the rest of the Portugueses and the more to oblige them he set up the Latin Religion nothing terrify'd by the example of Za-denghel And indeed the Fathers had such a power over him that at length he surrender'd himself to the Pope and together with his Son sware obedience to him as Universal Bishop and Vicar of Christ abrogating the Religion of Alexandria Which was afterwards the occasion of horrid uproars bloody wars and the slaughter of many great Personages But the possession of a Kingdom won by the Sword seldom enjoys a perfect tranquility especially when the death of the Predecessor comes be in question For presently that is to say the very next year up starts a counterfeit Jacob who alarum'd all Habessinia with the fear of a new War Some there were that acknowledg'd they both knew and saw the dead body of King Jacob after the blood was wip'd away but no man durst assert himself to be the Person that kill'd him The Counterfeit therefore addresses himself to the Monks of the famous Monastery of Bizan in the prefecture of Bahrnagassus where he remain'd and to hide the fraud as if his face had bin disfigur'd with his wounds went always vail'd Nor was it long before his Story was believ'd Not so much out of respect to his own Person as out of malice to Susneus whom they hated as a Person that was unknown to them and by his exilement inur'd to the Savage Customs of the Gallans Neither were they pleas'd with Raas-Seelech his brother by the Mother's side whom he had made Viceroy of Tigra whom they look'd upon also as a forraigner So that he not being able himself to quell the Disturbances the King was forc'd to advance himself But the Rebels having intelligence of his coming fled several ways to avoyd fighting Their Captain with only four of his Associates and some few Goats which he carry'd with him for their milks sake secur'd themselves by a painful Pilgrimage through the most wild and uncouth concealments of Nature that the Rocks could afford him where it was impossible to trace him So that the King dispairing after a tedious search to find him out return'd to Dembea and having solemniz'd his Inauguration at Axuma after the ancient Custom of the Country he made Ansalax Governor of Tigra in the room of his Brother who afterwards by the help of two Noblemen that counterfeited themselves their friends having apprehended the Rebels put them to death But what was more strange our Europe it self could not some time after discern an Aethiopian Counterfeit of the same name For in the Year 1631. a certain Impudent Counterfeit by the names of (i) For so the Ethiopic word Tzaga Christos is pronounced There is a Relation of this Person extant Entitl'd The Strange Accidents of the Travels of His Highness Prince Zaga-Christ of Ethiopia c. very absurd and full of Fables Tzagax assuming to himself to be the Son of Jacob came into France and producing several Recommendatory Letters and Certificates from the Credulous Monks of Palestine was taken for a Great Prince and expell'd Heir to the Kingdom of Ethiopia and Entertain'd with a large Pension from the King after the Example of some of the Princes of Italy which is to consider what may be Correspondent with their Munificence toward an Exile of so great Dignity rather then to enquire who he really is Which was to be admir'd For that both at Rome and in Portugal there were at that time extant several annual Relations by which it was apparent that Jacob was slain in Battel Young and never marry'd above Twenty years before But that which added to the Credit of the Impostor was his graceful Presence with a Countenance wherein Seriousness and Frankness were wonderfully intermix'd that while he kept company with other Princes as Bochart himself told me he seem'd to excel them all both for beauty of form and sweetness of disposition and particularly that his Majestick Aspect strook all his beholders with admiration Whether that Beauty were really in his Person or whether the Novelty of the thing or the Opinion that he was of the Race of Salomon byass'd their Judgments Tho otherwise no reason could be given why he acted the part of the Son of an Ethiopian King unless it were to contend with (k) Relating to the Daughters of Thespius Hercules or (l) See Suetonius in Claud. Juvenal Sat. 6. Tacit. Annal. l. XI Plin. X. 23. Messalina for the prize of most enormous Lust And indeed it may be thought that fearing his Imposture should be discover'd he rather chose to bring himself to his end by the pleasing debaushes of Luxury than to fall under the Hangman Being dead he was branded with this Epitaph Cy gist le Roy d'Ethiopie L'Original ou la Copie Here lyes the King
That being most graciously and kindly entertain'd by the King he dy'd in Habessinia Others that being honourably dismiss'd by the King he was murder'd by certain Arabian Thieves As for the Patriarch after a long Captivity and very bad Usage from the Turks he was at length set at Liberty after he had pay'd for himself and his Companions a Ransom of 4000 German Dolars and so at length got safe to Goa Where tho he were advis'd to go himself into Portugual and give an accompt of the afflicted State of Ethiopia he thought it the better way to send Jeronymo Lobo with order to desire the Aid of a sufficient Military Power to restore him to his lost See Thereupon the diligent Jesuit not only went into Portugal but also to Mantua to Philip the Fourth and from thence to Rome But all his Negotiations prov'd ineffectual whether it were that they did not think it at that instant so Apostolical a way to propagate the Gospel by force of Arms or whether it were that they did not like the Charge of an Expedition from whence they could hope for little good there being no considerable Party in the Kingdom to give them footing and the encouragement of Assistance For the King watchful over all casualties put all to Death that favour'd the Roman Fathers Which occasion'd the Ruin of many of the Nobility among the rest Tecla-Selax and several Priests that had taken Roman Orders and all the Fathers except Bernard Nogueyra whom the Patriarch had created his Vicar For tho the Patriarch attempted afterwards to send several other Fathers yet all their Endeavours were in vain so that for a long time he could learn no News concerning the State of Ecclesiastical Affairs in Habessinia For the King fearing lest the Portugueses should invade his Dominions in revenge of the Fathers had brib'd the Turkish Basha's of Suaqena and Matzua willing enough to that of themselves not to admit entrance to any of the Franks The News of which coming to Rome the Minds of men were variously affected The greatest part were sorry that all their fair hopes of retaining Ethiopia in Pontifical Obedience were quite cut off Others blam'd the Fathers of the Society that through their Arrogance and Imprudence in managing the Temper and Disposition of the Habessines they had ruin'd both themselves and the Roman Religion whereas they ought to have made it their Business to have acted chiefly and in the first place for the Majesty and Authority of the Pope over the Universal Church and willingly to have suffer'd all Miseries and Martyrdoms rather than have quitted their Station Tellez involves these particulars in a general Relation saying That several Malevolent Reports were spread about in Rome and some there were who gave out That the Fathers out of meer detestation of their Persons and hatred of the whole Nation of Portugal were ejected out of Habessinia and that if other Preachers were sent the Habessines would willingly embrace both them and their Doctrine Which was a thing to be done with much less Expence and more probable to come to effect than Lobo's Project of sending an Army Therefore the Congregation for propagating the Faith took another Course and sent Six Capuchin Fryers all Frenchmen with Letters of Recommendation and safe Conduct from the Emperor of the Turks himself with Orders to try what they could do in Habessinia Two of these going by Sea landed at Magadoso seated upon the Eastern Coast of Africa but before they could get many Leagues up into the Countrey they were knock't o' the head by the Cafers Two of them got as far as the Confines of Habessinia but being discover'd they were presently Commanded either to return back or make Profession of the Alexandrian Religion and upon their refusal to do either were presently ston'd to Death Of which when the other two that stay'd at Matzua had notice they rather chose to return home again than suffer Martyrdom to no purpose Book 3. Chap. 14. P 369 Three Capuchins beheaded in the yeare 1648 by the Comand of Basilides King of the Habessines 1 The Citie and Iland of Suaqin 2. The red Sea 3. The Turkish Basha Gouernour of the Iland 4. F. Felix de S. Severino 5. F. Antonio de Patra Pagana 6. F. Joseph Tortulano from the Italian Originall At length also Bernard Nogueira was apprehended the last of all the Fathers and fairly Hang'd As for the Patriarch Mendez he liv'd in India till the year 1656. Where in the 22d of his Exile and the 77th of his Age he dy'd upon the 29 day of January He was endu'd with most accomplish'd gifts both of Body and Mind very Tall and of a firm Constitution of Body well read both in the Greek and Latin and every way fitted for his Employment Neither had he wanted Prudence had not the King's Favour and Success which oftentimes intoxicate the Wisest of Men transported him out of the way to act with that violence and severity where gentleness and caution were so requisite By which means instead of gaining he was forc'd to suffer the shameful detriment of that Authority which he had too far extended Others as Gregory told me excus'd him for that upon his arrival he found things so far driven on by the Missionaries that he could not with Honour recede from what they had done Since the Death of the Patriarch we have had no certain Relations out of Habessinia In the year 1652. a new Metropolitan was sent into Ethiopia who had bin seen by many Europeans in Egypt and was succeeded afterwards by several others as we have gather'd from certain Relation From whence we may infer That the report of Tellez was a thing fram'd out of Envy as if the King of the Habessines had sent his Ambassadors into Arabia to desire thence Mahometan Doctors with an intention to embrace Turcism which no man can think probable from what has bin already related For how is it likely that he who could not Protect the splendid Religion of the Romish Church and the specious Doctrines of the Fathers because they were thought by the Habessines to be repugnant to Scripture and the Decrees of the Primitive Church should be able to admit of the Vanity and Absurdity of Mahumetism the Original and Progress of which is so well known to the Habessines already A Religion that did not prevail by suffering and well-doing like the Christian Religion but by force of Arms was obtruded upon Barbarous and Discording Nations The Clergy and Monks so wedded to their Alexandrian Religion would no more endure it than they did the superstition of Susneus So that should the King and his Peers be so vain as to attempt a thing so detestable to his People he could not expect but to be more vigorously and generally oppos'd than ever his Father was But lastly the King's Letters of the last Date to the Governor of Batavia beginning with a Christian Preface sufficiently demonstrate that he was
caus'd large Pitts to be digg'd and then commanded the Christians to be burnt therein in heaps as it were for quicker dispatch Three hundred and forty perish'd in this manner in the City of (x) Negra by Niceph. Cullisto l. 18. c. 6. by others Najram Nagra together with St. Areta entomb'd in Fire Caleb being admonish'd by the Patriarch would not endure so much barbarous Cruelty but with an Army of a Hundred and twenty thousand Men and a Navy of 423 Vessels he cross'd over into Arabia and having vanquish'd Dunawas he he utterly destroy'd the Kingdom of the Homerites restor'd Nagra to the Christians and made St. Areta's Son Governor of the place To Dunawas succeeded Abreha Elasbram Jacsum F. Masruk F. but their Kingdom remain'd Seventy two years under the Yoke of the Habessines After these Saif-ibn-Di-Jazan of the race of the Homerites by the assistance of Anusherwan King of the Persians recover'd the Throne of his Ancestors but was soon after slain by the Abessines However the Persians at that time prevalent set up over the Sabeans other Kings whom the Abessines oppos'd and some they slew And thus this Kingdom harrass'd with continual Wars between the Persians and the Habessines at length when the Saracens began to grow powerful under Bazen the last King became tributarie to Mahomet And by this perhaps we are to understand what Abdelbachides writes concerning a Nagash of the Abessines whom he calls Atzhama as if he had revolted to Islamisin at the invitation of Mahomet But these things are confused and imperfectly delivered by the Arabes Greehes and Latins and besides that the diversity of names adds obscurity to the History For as to those Acts which Procopius attributes to Hellesthiaeus King of Ethiopia as if he having slain the King of the Homerites of which many were Jews set up another in his place Emsiphaeus by name and a Christian those things are proper to none but Caleb in regard that Kingdom being destroy'd by Caleb could not be again subverted by Ellesthiaeus But as for those things which are reported by Cedrenus and Nicephorus of Adad or David a certain Ethnic King of the Indian Axumites who demolish'd the Kingdom of the Homerites and by occasion of a former vow became a Christian they are altogether false For that there is no other History than that which we have related of Caleb to this purpose we shall hereafter declare when we came to discourse of the Original Christianity in Ethiopia For that the corrupt names of Damian of Damnus from Dunaam or Dunawas and other Circumstances demonstrate But 't is no wonder the History of the Homerites should be so confus'd among Strangers when the Arabians themselves complain that among all other Histories that of the Homerites is the most imperfect Our Poet before cited thus praises Caleb in the following Lines Peace be to Caleb who with the Lawrel wreath'd Behind him left such Monuments of his Power To Salem he his Royal Crown bequeath'd An Offering to his dreaded Saviour For he great Hero from his mighty deeds Vain glory scorn'd that proud ambition feeds The dismal Slaughter of Sabean Host So dismal that not one alive remain'd Swell'd not his thoughts of Victory to boast Yet glad to see his Sword so nobly stain'd Glad that by him the Homerites enslav'd Martyrs were now reveng'd and Christians sav'd Concerning the Martyrs of Nagra the same Poet goes on thus Your beauteous Starrs of Nagra I salute Such Themes would force loud Language from the Mute You brightly shine before the Mercy-Seat And like rich Gemms the world illuminate Oh may your Lustre reconcile my Sin Before the Judge of what my Crimes have bin Shew him your blood which you for him have spilt And beg Pacification for my Guilt To Caleb succeeded Gebra-Meskel or the Servant of the Cross so nam'd at his Baptism whom the Poet thus honours Peace to thee also King of high renown That in the Strength of God so much hast won Yet with thanksgiving to thy heavenly Lord Didst still ascribe the Trophies of thy Sword Concord and Peace adorn'd thy happy daies Thy reign resounded only Hymns of praise Glory to God thy Pious Cares oblieged And Peace on Earth from fear of thee proceeded The next to him in the Ethiopian Liturgy are Constantine and Fresenna or the good Fruit. Then followed an Interruption or discontinuance of this Line in the time of Delnoad who reigned about the year of Christ 960. But then the Scepter was usurp'd by another Race of which we are next to discourse CHAP. V. Of the Zagaean Line and the Kings that descended from that Race The Zagaean Line originally from the wickedness of a woman the Successors uncertain yet some of them very Famous UPon the Death of Delnoad the Zagean Family invaded the Kingdom and enjoy'd it Three Hundred and Forty years They first obtain'd it by the devices of a wicked Woman (b) The word signifies Fire Essat by Name Stigmatiz'd for Unchastity Sacriledge and Avarice in the highest degree Her Successors are uncertain and the Names which Marianus Victor produces together with the several years of their Reigns are very much to be suspected to omit what Tellezius learnedly writes That the Queens are never inserted in the Catalogues of those that Reign Nevertheless Victorius nominates one Tredda-Gadez who Murder'd all the Posterity of the Salomonean Family that he might Establish the Kingdom to his Son Yet in the mid'st of the Slaughter there was one young Lad of the Royal Blood who making his Escape to the Lords of the Kingdom of Shewa most passionately zealous for the Salomonean Line was there privately preserv'd The Kings of this Line are very enviously traduc'd by Tellezius as unjust and unworthy to be remember'd tho it has honour'd Ethiopia with many Renowned Monarchs of whom there is still a happy Memorial both in the Ethiopic Liturgy and among the Encomiums of my Poet as Degna Michael and Newaja-Christos or the Wealth of Christ who never appears in Victorius's Catalogue However he is thus Praised by the Poet. Peace to Newaja from whose Royal Loins Illustrious Princes born for high designs Ennobling more their high Descent his Praise Advanc'd and thence their own Renown did raise No wonder he dy'd Poor his Zeal was such He stript himself his Temple to enrich Himself had built the House of God and scorn'd To leave God's House behind him unadorn'd But the most famous and most renowned for his Magnificent Structures was (c) Alvarez makes mention of him c. 54. and 55. where he relates the same Story of the swarm of Bees Lalibala whose future Greatness was portended by a Swarm of Bees that while he was an Infant newly born lighted upon his tender Body without doing him the least prejudice Of him the Poet thus sings To mighty Lalibala Peace Who stately Structures rear'd And to adorn the Pompous piles For no Expences spar'd By vast Expence and hideous pains The Rock a
eager to come to a Field decision before the King should gather Strength In the mean time the Enemies of the new Religion Rendevouz'd together from all Parts and among the rest Abuna Peter the Alexandrian Metropolitan and chief Head of the Rebellion who by an unheard of President in Ethiopia contrary to the Laws of God and Man absolv'd the Rebels from the tye of their Oaths which they had Sworn to their lawful Prince which they themselves had already broke by virtue of a detestable Excommunication of his Prince Thus more and more embold'nd and contemning the Majesty of the King they turn'd their Veneration into Hatred And so with mutual Animosity they joyn Battel The Portugueses who fought in the right wing maintain'd their ground a long time believing the Kings and the Cause of Religion to be their own But in the left Wing of which the King himself took charge all things went to rack for many fled over to the Enemy many look'd on without striking a stroke resolv'd to follow the Fortune of the Day Thus the King forsaken by his own fought bravely for a long time till Laeca-Marjam and the rest of his Guard being slain he was himself struck down from his Horse with the sling of a Lance. After that getting up again to renew the Fight he was stuck through the body and slain with several Darts thrown at a distance reverence of his person not permitting them to come near to hurt him The third day after the Fight he was taken up and buried without any Funeral Pomp in a little Chappel hard by the Field of the Battel Such was the end of the short Life and Reign of this Famous and Lawful King of Ethiopia A doleful Warning to admonish us that the Cause of Religion ought to be moderately and prudently handled And that it behoves a Prince not to thrust himself rashly into a Battel especially when there is no certain Successor For proof whereof the fatal Example of Sebastian King of Portugal may serve among the rest CHAP. VII Of the Kings of this Centurie To our Times Susneus aspires to the Crown acknowledg'd by Ras-Athanasius He requests the same from Zaslac Who refuses at first then submits But Jacob appearing he takes his part So does Ras-Athanasius Jacob again made King He desires an agreement with Susneus but in vain They take Arms. Zaslac beaten he goes over to Susneus A new War Jacob and Abuna slain The Victor's Clemency Zaslac imprison'd he escapes invades Waleka and Gojam Kill'd by the Pagans Ras-Athanasius dyes Susneus kind to the Portugals and Jesuits He submits to the Pope A Counterfeit Jacob but dares not stand the coming of Susneus An Impostor of the same kind comes into France His Conditions his Epitaph Alibi boasts himself the Son of Arzo Susneus's Nativity Conditions Vertues Vices and Death His Son Basilides drives the Jesuits out of Ethiopia He kills his Brothers A General Table of the last Kings of Habessinia KIng Zadenghel being thus slain the War indeed ceas'd yet Peace did not presently ensue For the Rebels not dreaming of such a speedy Victory had not consider'd of a Successor Wherefore as it were stupid with Emulation Ras-Athanasius departs for Gojam and Zaslac for Dembea without ever holding any common Consultation Thereupon Susneus hearing of the King's death and believing that the Kingdom was now fallen to Him as being the Son of Basilides the Nephew of Jacob and Grandchild of David and then being also a Young man train'd up in the Gallan Wars belov'd and surrounded with the choicest of the Military Bands he conceiv'd no small hopes of his design First therefore he sends before one of the Faithfullest of his Friends to Ras-Athanasius with instructions to declare to him in short That whereas the Kingdom belong'd to him by right of Inheritance he should come presently and joyn Forces with his In the mean time Susneus not expecting an Answer follows the Messenger with the nimblest of his Army and writes to Athanasius as if already made King That he was at hand and that therefore he should come to meet him and pay him the accustom'd honours due to him Athanasius amaz'd at the unexpected approach of Susneus void of Counsel the Danger being Equal on both sides either to refuse or admit him at length finding all assistance far distant and no hopes of delay to give him time to consult with Zaslac he rather chose to be before-hand with the new King's Favours than to hazard the uncertain Fortune of a Battel So that Susneus being honourably receiv'd into the Camp was saluted King Which done he presently writes to Zaslac That by the Providence of God he had recovered the Throne of his Ancestors and was now marching for Dembea therefore he should take Care that there might be Forces there ready to receive him and those deserved Favours which he was ready to bestow upon them But he tho astonish'd at the suddain News was unwilling to acknowledg him for King whom he had not made himself and therefore consulting with his Friends return'd for answer That he would then obey him if Jacob to whom he had already by Message offer'd the Kingdom did not come before June and therefore begg'd that short delay Susneus no way pleas'd with the Condition wrote back to him again That he was King already and therefore would give place neither to Jacob once before adjudg'd unworthy nor to his Father Malec-Saghed though he should return from the other World Zaslac having receiv'd this surly Answer equally mettlesom and diligent turns his Arms upon him and comes on briskly to meet him Susneus finding himself prevented with the speedy March of his Adversary and perceiving himself over-match'd and which was worse not well in health retir'd to the Craggy Mountains of Amhara Ras-Athanasius also whose precipitancy Zaslac had upbraided retreated into other Fastnesses to avoid the Fury of his Associate In the mean time there being no News of Jacob the other Captains and Commanders of the Army began to scatterwords of discontent That they would not be without a King that if Jacob would not come there was no Person fitter than Susneus neither would he be at rest till he had obtain'd by force what they would not give him by fair means Zaslac fearing the Inconstancy of his own People and consequently a Revolt orders Commissioners to be sent and by them surrenders the Scepter to Susneus who presently sent a Person to whom Allegiance should be sworn in his Name Which being done Ten of the chiefest Peers ride forth to meet the new King and to conduct him with a Pomp befitting into the Camp And now Shouts and Acclamations are to be every where heard Neither were Banquets wanting with all other Solemnities usual at the Inaugurations of their Kings when on a sudden new Commissioners from Jacob quite disturb'd their mirth with such a suddain alteration as with which Fortune never more odly mock'd before the hopes of those that
was hardly thought worthy so high an Employment and they were afraid of future shame for having acknowledg'd a false Embassadour After many and long delays at length they were satisfy'd and in return another Embassie was decreed to the Habessines and Odoardus Galvan was sent upon that Employment He dying by the way Rodorick Limez was sent in his room whose Priest was Francis Alvarez who left behind him an Itinerary written in the Portugueze Language in a plain and ordinary style tho afterwards for Curiositie's sake translated into several (a) By Michael de Selves into Spanish by others into Italian and Dutch Jovius promis'd also to do it into Latin but fail'd Languages Six Years Rodoric Limez resided in Ethiopia before he was dismiss'd by the King that he might be in a Capacity to make the same return of Kindness to the Portugals At length he sent him back joyning with him Tzagazaabus with Letters to the Pope and the King of Portugal flourish'd at the beginning with those usual Titles which we have already recited But what is to be admir'd 〈◊〉 Tzagazaabus arriv'd not at Rome till the Year 1539 being detain'd at Lisbon Certain other (b) Extant in Alvarez Damianus a Goez of the Ethiopian Customes and Tom. 11. Hispian Illustrat p. 1250. Letters were also recommended to Alvarez who carry'd them to Bononia and made a long Discourse of the Respect and Reverence which the Kings of Habessinia had to the See of Rome They were read before Clement the Seventh and the Emperour Charles the First with the general Applause of the Court of Rome but with no Success For that Claudius the King plainly deny'd to ratifie either those things or what John Bermudes afterwards related at Rome to the same effect as if never given in Command nor so understood but that the business of the Embassie and consequently the Letters themselves had bin faign'd and contriv'd by the Portugals However the Habessinians being reduc'd to very great streights at the Intercession of Bermudes had an assistance of Four hunder'd and fifty men granted and sent into Habessinia by the Command of John the Third But Peter Pays positively writes That this was done at the request of the Queen of Ethiopia And that Stephen Gomez who sail'd into the Red Sea to burn the Turkish Ships and by chance came to an Anchor before the Iland of Matzua after he had consulted his Councel of Warr resolv'd to send the said Supply as seeming to be for the honour of God and the King Of which Consultation there had certainly bin no need if the King had Commanded the Supply before However it were that Succour was not onely very necessary but very advantageous to the Habessines From which time the Habessines were not onely gratefully but honourably receiv'd among the Habessines nor did they then refuse the Latin Religion but frequently went to the Portugueze Chappels and admitted Them into Theirs Moreover they also gave Liberty to the Habessinian Women that were marry'd to the Portugueses to go to Mass with their Husbands and to partake of the same Ceremonies with them So that during the Raign of Claudius there was great Hopes both at Rome and at Lisbon that the Habessinians might be perswaded to embrace the Romish Religion But that Hope proving vain there was for some time a Cessation of Embassies and the Abessinian Friendship with the Lusitanians was almost interrupted untill by the Artifices of the Fathers of the Society the Minds of the later Kings were somewhat more inclinably dispos'd to give Obedience to the See of Rome Upon that Letters were written to the Pope and the King of Spain who was then also King of Portugal and answers upon them which gave an Occasion to Susneus to decree an Embassie into Europe To that purpose (c) Mistakenly Tecur-Egzy in Tellezius l. 2. c. 3. Fecur-Egzie was chosen and with him Antonie Fernandez was joyn'd who were commanded by unknown and by-ways to Travel Southward till they reach'd Melinda upon the Shore of the Indian Ocean from whence the Passage was more Easie and Safe into India Thereupon setting forth out of Gojam they Travell'd through Enarea from thence into the Kingdom of Zendero and so to Cambata the Last Kingdom under the Habessine Dominions Thence Travelling into Alaba they were forbid to go any farther by the Governour of the Province who was a Mahumetan He apprehended the Embassador with his Train and had not the Law of Nations bin of some force among the Barbarians for they had about them to shew both their Letters and Presents from the Emperour they had bin put to death with the Law in their own hands Being by that means set at Liberty after a Years and seven Months time spent in hard Travel after many sad Experiences of Savage Barbarity and a Thousand Jeopardies they return'd home without effecting any thing Nor can any reason be certainly given why those unknown and dangerous Ways were chosen thorough so many Barbarous Nations so many Wild and Desert Countries when the Road lay so plain through the Kingdom of Denoale in Friendship with the Abissines to the Port of Baylur which the Patriarch of Portugal afterwards securely made use of as if so tedious a Journey had bin impos'd upon the Undertakers not so much to go upon an Embassie as for the Discovery of Forraign Countries and By-Roads for the Direction of Travellers After that there happening a difference between them and the See of Rome all manner of Commerce and Communication with the Europeans ceas'd Insomuch that now they would with great reluctancy admit those whom before they so highly admir'd and with great difficulty would dismiss out of their affection to Arts and Sciences especially if they suspected them to be Clergy-men or under Religious Vows For which reason they try'd them first by offering a Wife to every Stranger Otherwise they rarely send any Embassadors abroad unless it be into Egypt when they have need of the Metropolitan For they are not onely ignorant of forraign Affairs and Languages but of the Ways and Roads of other Countries By reason of their Vicinity to the Turks and thence their frequent Commerce one with another sometimes they are forc'd to send Embassadors to Constantinople as in the Year 1660. So in the Year 1661 one Michael was sent thither with the wonted Presents a living Tecora several Skins of dead ones Pigmies and the like as Thevenot writes In the Year 1671 another Embassador was sent with some of those painted Beasts and Letters to the Dutch Governour of Batavia But they who are sent are generally Forrainers Maronites Armenians or else Arabians But as for what Leonardus Rauchwolf writes in his Itinerary it is altogether vain and false That Presbyter John having made a League with the Persians sent a Persian Bishop with so many Priests that in Two years time they converted Twenty Christian Cities to the Christian Religion It seems to be an old and confus'd
reason by Argument you can never subdue the Will Eighthly That the Devil had put it into the Heads of several Catholicks to make a corresponding Agreement between the Catholick and the Alexandrinian Religion asserting all to be Christians as well Alexandrians as Romans That all believe in Christ That Christ saves all That there is little Difference between both Religions That both have Conveniencies and Inconveniencies their Truths and their Errors but that the Wheat was to be separated from the Cockle Ninthly That the Ecclesiastical Censures seem'd very heavy to the Habessines especially when they heard the Patriarch name Dathan and Abiram in the Excommunication CHAP. XIII Of the Expulsion of the Patriarch and the Exilement of the Fathers of the Society The Alexandrians quarrel with the Fathers who are accurs'd Their Churches taken from them Susneus Dyes Ras-Seelax renouncing the Alexandrian Religion is Overthrown and Banish'd Others put to Death The Fathers Dispossessed of their Goods Sent to Fremona The Patriarch by Letters Demands of the King the Causes of his Banishment and a New Dispute The King's Answer The Fathers depart for Fremona Afterwards quite thrown out of the Kingdom AFter the Publication of the King's Edict the Alexandrians being now absolute Victors endeavour'd with all their industry to be quit with the Fathers and expel them quite out of Habessinia To which purpose they omitted no occasion of daily quarrel and contention First accusing the Patriarch for endeavouring by Seditious Sermons to stir up the People to Sedition and to turn them from the Alexandrian Religion for that he had openly exhorted his Hearers to Constancy But understanding that Basilides was displeas'd and gave out threatning words they thought it requisite to act more moderately Soon after the Fathers Churches were taken from them believing that would be a means to put a stop to the Roman Worship And first they were constrain'd to quit their Cathedral at Gorgora a stately Structure after the European manner At their departure they carry'd with them all their Sacred Furniture brake all the Sculpture and spoil'd the Pictures that they might not leave them to be the sport of their Adversaries doing that themselves which they thought the Habessines would do And this Example they follow'd in all other places from whence they were expell'd In the mid'st of these Transactions Susnèus's Distemper increasing and more and more augmented by his continual anguish of Mind he ended this Life the 16th day of Decemb. 1632. The King being Dead the Fathers Adversaries set upon Ras-Seelax in the first place as the Principal Favourer and Protector of the Roman Religion and first of all they promise him all his former Dignities all his Possessions and Goods upon Condition he would return to the Alexandrian Religion Upon his refusal they bring him bound in Chains before the King and pronounce him guilty of Death But the King declaring that he would not pollute his hands with the Blood of his Uncle commanded him to be carry'd to a certain remote Place near to Samenar and sequester'd his Goods And as he was great so was he attended in his fall by several others as Atzai-Tino Secretary of State and the King's Historiographer Walata Georgissa the Queens Cousin In short whoever had favour'd the Fathers were all sent into Exile and some put to Death perhaps because they had bin more bitter in their Expressions than others against the Alexandrian Religion For some had call'd it a Religion for Dogs After all this the Enemies of the Fathers still insisted That nothing was yet done so long as the Patriarch and the Fathers were suffer'd to abide within the Confines of the Kingdom Neither would the Lastaneers be quiet till they heard the Fathers were all thrown out of Ethiopia but would look upon all things transacted for the re-establishment of the Alexandrian Religion as fictitious Stories There needed not many words to press him that was already willing First of all therefore their Goods and Possessions were taken from them then all their Arms especially their Musquets and Fire-Arms But before that they were sent to Fremona where as we have already declar'd Oviedo the Patriarch resided for some time But before their Departure the Patriarch wrote a certain Letter to the King to this Effect I did not adventure to come into Habessinia with my Companions of my own accord but by the Command of the Roman Pontiff and the King of Portugal at the request of your Father where having taken the King's Oath of Obedience I officiated the Office of Patriarch in the Name of the Roman Pontiff and the King of Portugal Now because you Command me to depart my humble request is that your Majesty would set down the Causes of my Exilement in Writing subscrib'd with your own and the hands of some of your Counsellors and Peers that all the World may know whether I am compell'd to suffer for my Life and Conversation or for the sake of my Doctrine I granted the Ceremonies desired by your Father except the Communion under both Kinds which only the Pope himself can dispute with The same also I again offer so that you and your Subjects will yield Obedience to the Church of Rome as the head of all other Churches My last request is That as the Matter was Debated at first so it may be referr'd to another Dispute by which means the Truth of the whole affair will more manifestly appear To this Writing the King thus reply'd Whatever was done by me before was done by the Command of my Father whom I was in Duty bound to Obey so that I was forc'd to wage War under his Conduct both with Kindred and Subjects But after the last Battel of Wainadega the Learned and Unlearned Clergy and Layety Civil and Military young and old all sorts of Persons made their Addresses to my Father Crying out How long shall we be perplexed and wearied with unprofitable things How long shall we encounter Brethren and Kindred cutting off the right hand with the left How long shall we thrust our Swords into our own Bowels Especially since we learn nothing from the Roman Religion but what we knew before For what the Romans call the two Natures in Christ his Divinity and his Humanity that we knew from the beginning to this time For we all believe that our Lord Christ is perfect God and perfect Man perfect God in his Divinity and perfect Man in his Humanity But in regard those Natures are not separated nor divided for neither of them subsist of its self but both of them conjoyn'd the one with the other therefore we do not say that they are two things For one is made two yet so as the Natures are not mix'd in their Subsistence This Controversie therefore among us is of little moment neither was it for this that there has bin so much Bloodshed among us but chiefly because the Blood was deny'd to the Layety whereas Christ has said in his Gospel Unless