The first Portuguese forces respond to a…

1540 CE to 1683 CE

The first Portuguese forces respond to a request for aid in 1541, although by this time the Portuguese are concerned primarily with strengthening their hegemony over the Indian Ocean trade routes and with converting the Ethiopians to Roman Catholicism.

Nevertheless, joining the forces of the Christian kingdom, the Portuguese succeed eventually in helping to defeat and kill Gragn.

Portuguese Roman Catholic missionaries arrived in 1554.

Efforts to induce the Ethiopians to reject their Monophysite beliefs and accept Rome's supremacy continue for nearly a century and engender bitterness as pro- and anti-Catholic parties maneuver for control of the state.

At least two emperors in this period allegedly convert to Roman Catholicism.

The second of these, Susenyos (reigned 1607-32), after a particularly fierce battle between adherents of the two faiths, abdicates in 1632 in favor of his son, Fasilides (reigned 1632-67), to spare the country further bloodshed.

The expulsion of the Jesuits and all Roman Catholic missionaries follows.

This religious controversy leaves a legacy of deep hostility toward foreign Christians and Europeans that will continue into the twentieth century.

It also contributes to the isolation that follow for the next two hundred years.

Locations
Lalibela Amhara Ethiopia View →

People
Fasilides View → Susenyos I View →

Groups
Tigray-Tigrinya people View → Somalis View → Aksum (or Axum), Kingdom of View → Sidama people View → Agaw people View → Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria View → Oromo people View → Islam View → Papal States (Republic of St. Peter) View → Portuguese people View → Afar people View → Amhara people View → Christians, Eastern Orthodox View → Christians, Roman Catholic View → Franciscans, or Order of St. Francis View → Adal Sultanate View → Portuguese Empire View → Jesuits, or Order of the Society of Jesus View → Ethiopia, Solomonid Dynasty of View → Ethiopia, Solomonid Dynasty of View → Ethiopia, Solomonid Dynasty of View →

Topics
Sub-Saharan Africa, Medieval View → Interaction with Subsaharan Africa, Early European View → Colonization of Asia, Portuguese View →

Subjects
Commerce View → Labor and Service View → Conflict View → Faith View → Government View → Custom and Law View →

Regions

Subregions

Related Events