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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Yohannes II (r. May 10, 1769-October 15, 1769)
Author:Bekele, ShiferawISNI
Year:2002
Periodical:Aethiopica: International Journal of Ethiopian Studies
Volume:5
Pages:89-111
Language:English
Geographic term:Ethiopia
Subjects:heads of State
History and Exploration
About person:Yohannes II, king of Ethiopia (-1769)
External link:https://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/aethiopica/article/view/448/701
Abstract:Yohannes II was king of Ethiopia for a very brief period, namely from May 10 to October 15, 1769. In this year the country veered towards a new and irreversible direction in its political history and Yohannes II was one of the protagonists in the drama. This paper briefly sketches the life of Yohannes with a particular focus on his brief reign and poses the question of how he died. Knowledge of the reign of Yohannes II is so far based on a brief account (1813) of a Scottish traveller, James Bruce, who arrived at Massawa in 1769. This account, however, contains errors, e.g. that Yohannes II was poisoned. The present paper brings to light an Ethiopian document - a brief contemporary chronicle written at the time the events took place - on the short reign of Yohannes II. The version available in the British Museum (BL Orient 821) is published here with a translation and annotations. On the basis of this chronicle and other fragmentary information from Henry Salt, an English traveller who came to Ethiopia in 1805, the paper concludes, first, that Yohannes was not poisoned but died a natural death, and second, that the story of the amputation of his hand by his brother Bekfa should at best be treated with caution because there is evidence that throws doubt on its veracity. App., notes, ref., sum. [ASC Leiden abstract]
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