Eleni of Ethiopia

Eleni
Eleni of Hadiya, empress consort and later queen mother of Ethiopia
Empress of Ethiopia
Reign? – 1468
Queen Mother
Reign1468 – 1478
PredecessorIgzi Kebra
SuccessorRomna
Regent
Reign1507 — 1516
BornHadiya, Ethiopian Empire
DiedApril 1522
Ethiopian Empire
SpouseZara Yaqob
DynastyHouse of Solomon (by marriage)
ReligionEthiopian Orthodox
Muslim (previously)

Eleni (Ge’ez: እሌኒ, "Helena"; died April 1522) also known as Queen of Zeila[1] was Empress of Ethiopia by marriage to Zara Yaqob (r. 1434–1468), and served as regent between 1507 and 1516 during the minority of emperor Dawit II. She played a significant role in the government of Ethiopia during her lifetime, acting as de facto co-regent or advisor to a number of emperors; one testimony of this is the manuscript Bruce 88, which states that she had been in the palace of three illustrious Emperors: Zara Yaqob; his son by another wife, Baeda Maryam I (r. 1468–1478), and Na'od (r. 1494–1505).[2]

  1. ^ Braukämper, Ulrich (2002). Islamic History and Culture in Southern Ethiopia: Collected Essays. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 61. ISBN 9783825856717. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  2. ^ Beckingham and Huntingford, translators, The Prester John of the Indies by Francisco Álvares (Cambridge: Hakluyt Society, 1961), p. 14 n.3

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