Due to the violent religious controversy that…

Due to the violent religious controversy that Catholic missionaries had caused in Ethiopia under the reign of his grandfather Susenyos, Emperor Yohannes acts harshly towards Europeans.

He had in 1669 directed Gerazmach Mikael to expel all of the Catholics still living in Ethiopia; those who did not embrace the beliefs of the Ethiopian Church were exiled to Sennar.

Six Franciscans, sent by Pope Alexander VII to succeed in converting Ethiopia to Catholicism where the Jesuits had failed thirty years before, were executed during his reign.

As a result, he favors Armenian visitors, whose beliefs also embrace Miaphysitism, and are in harmony with the Ethiopian Church.

These include one Murad, who has undertaken a number of diplomatic missions for the Emperor; and in 1679, Yohannes receives the Armenian bishop Yohannes, bearing a relic of Ewostatewos.