SINODA (d. 1699)
The annals of Negus Yohannes I (1667-1682) and Negus Iyyasu I (1682-1706) record much historical information about Sinoda (Shenute), who assumed his duties upon the dismissal of his predecessor, Abuna Krestodolu II, a dismissal that resulted from the
controversy over union and unction. Negus Yohannes I, who favored the doctrine of the Unctionists (the monks of the order of
Ewostatewos), suspected Abuna Krestodolu II of leaning toward the Unionists (the monks of the order of Takla Haymanot); thus, he
requested the Coptic patriarch MATTHEW IV (1660-1675) to send a new metropolitan to Ethiopia.
Sinoda arrived in Ethiopia via Sennar, but did not go immediately to Gonder. He was forced to remain a few months at Celga near the frontier because of unrest in the capital, which had been invaded by warrior-monks engaged in violent polemics. When Gonder became calm, the new metropolitan entered the city on 9 Teqemt 1664 of the Ethiopian calendar (A.D. 17 October 1671). Krestodolu II was quietly dismissed and the new metropolitan immediately enthroned.
Sinoda was a wise and able metropolitan, for he succeeded in avoiding making any incisive decisions in the discussions that were
rocking the Ethiopian clergy. Near Easter 1678 he convoked a council to examine disciplinary questions, but some of the assembly
insisted upon discussing the "problems of faith" before touching those of discipline. As a result, the council had to be suspended. In
November of the same year, Sinoda convoked another council to discuss the validity of the negus's marriage to Sabla Wangel,
daughter of the ruler's paternal aunt, a marriage that part of the clergy considered contrary to canon law. A few monks, however,
affirmed that the Coptic patriarch Matthew IV had already pronounced in favor of this marriage's validity, whereupon Abuna Sinoda declared that they should abide by the patriarch's decision.
During this same year, an Armenian bishop named Hovannes (John) arrived in Ethiopia. He brought a letter of introduction from
the Coptic patriarch JOHN XVI (1676-1718), along with a relic, a bone from the hand of Ewostatewos, the Ethiopian saint who died in
Armenia during the fourteenth century and was founder of the order supporting the unction doctrine. Hovannes was an ambitious man who was hoping to make his career in Ethiopia, but his sojourn in that country was brief. Nonetheless, by a decision of the negus and with the approbation of the metropolitan, the relic was to be kept in the Church of the Savior at Gonder. This action aroused vehement protests from the Unionist monks of the order of Takla Haymanot, who were difficult to appease.
In year 1672 of the Ethiopian calendar (A.D. 1679-1680), by order of the negus, Sinoda convoked another council for the purpose
of examining an "impure" letter addressed to the king from the clergy of Lasta, who wished to maintain that "the Father had been
incarnated in the Virgin Mary." The council condemned this thesis, and Sinoda threatened to excommunicate all those who accepted it.
Sinoda also had to intervene in the conflict between Yohannes I and his son, the future Negus Iyyasu I. Suspecting that his father
wished to apprehend and place him in seclusion, Iyyasu fled, finding asylum in the territory of the Oromo (who are also called Galla). He refused to return to Gonder until his father gave him certain guarantees. The negus had to promise not to deny his son freedom,
under penalty of excommunication issued against the sovereign by the eccage, the head of the regular clergy. However, since the
metropolitan could absolve all excommunications, Sinoda had to promise not to absolve this one, under penalty of his own excommunication by a priest chosen by Iyyasu. (The royal chronicler added, however, that the excommunication issued against
the metropolitan was "contrary to the usual custom.") Finally, on 10 Teqemt 1673 (A.D. 17 October 1681), Sinoda participated in a ninth council that concluded with a reaffirmation of the Unctionist doctrine and the excommunication of the adherents of the Unionist
doctrine.
However, the situation changed with the death of Negus Yohannes I and the accession to the throne of his son Iyyasu I on 15 Hamle 1674 (A.D. 19 July 1682). Iyyasu favored the monks of the order of Takla Haymanot (Unionists), and from the first years of his rule he thought of requesting another Coptic metropolitan. Because he liked Sinoda, the negus told him of his plans and explained that with this request he hoped not only to facilitate the throne's ecclesiastical politics but also to protect the metropolitan himself,
who had been pressured by the Unctionists and invited to "fight and die" for the doctrine that he had helped to have proclaimed during the reign of Negus Yohannes I. The new Coptic bishop, named Marqos, arrived at Gonder during the eighth year of Iyyasu's reign and was introduced by Sinoda himself to the civil and ecclesiastical dignitaries on 18 Maskaram 1681 (25 September 1689). The
chronicle states that "Sinoda was not dismissed, and Marqos was sent to Sarka, where he was installed with all the honors due him,
for two metropolitans could not reside in the same city." In other words, the negus decided, for the time being, to treat Marqos as if he were the coadjutor bishop to Sinoda, who thereby continued to occupy his supreme position for a few years.
During the eleventh year of his reign, Iyyasu I visited Tigre and was received with great pomp on 6 Yakkatit 1685 (A.D. 10 February
1693). Accompanied by Abuna Sinoda, he spent the day in the cathedral of the holy city, near the "Ark of Zion" (i.e., the most
famous tabot of all the Ethiopian churches, said to be the true Ark of the Covenant, containing the Tablets of the Law, described in the Old Testament). This was probably the last grand function in which the old metropolitan participated. In fact, upon his return to Gonder, the negus convoked an assembly of dignitaries and prelates before whom he had a letter publicly read in which the Coptic patriarch John XVI ordered that Marqos be enthroned in Sinoda's place. This occurred on the feast day of Abba Salama, the first bishop of Ethiopia, 26 Hamle 1685 (A.D. 30 July 1693). The elevation of Marqos IV occurred immediately.
Sinoda must have lived a few years longer in general esteem. According to the Abridged Chronicle of Ethiopia, he died during the
month of Khedar in the eighteenth year of the reign of Iyyasu I (November 1699). This death is confirmed by the account of the French physician Jacques Charles Poncet (1713, pp. 82-84), who was then in Gonder and who, at the request of the negus, visited the dying Sinoda. Poncet added one interesting detail: Iyyasu told him that he had great affection for Sinoda because Sinoda had been his teacher.
MARQOS IV (d. 1716)
Because Marqos was abun not only during the last years of the reign of Negus Iyyasu I (1682-1706) but also during a turbulent
period comprising the reigns of Takla Haymanot (1706-1708), Tewoflos (1708-1711), Yostos (1711-1716), and Dawit IV (1716-
1721), for whom there are no royal chronicles, there is much information about the early years of his metropolitanate, especially in the chronicle of Iyyasu I, but few data about the final period.
Marqos IV was the successor to Abuna Sinoda. The latter, enthroned during the reign of Yohannes I (1677-1682), had at first been forced to acquiesce to the religious politics of this ruler, who openly leaned toward the thesis of the Unctionists (monks of the order of Ewostatewos) in the Christological controversy over union and unction, a quarrel that had arisen during the time of Abuna Mika’el IV. Negus Iyyasu I, contrary to his father Yohannes, favored the Unionists (monks of the order of Takla Haymanot), and when the negus decided to reverse his father's ecclesiastical politics, Sinoda was placed in a difficult position. With Sinoda's concurrence, Iyyasu I thought it wise to ask the Coptic patriarch JOHN XVI (1676-1718) to send a new bishop to Ethiopia. This bishop, named
Marqos, arrived in Ethiopia via Sennar and was introduced by Sinoda himself to the civil and clerical dignitaries during an assembly held at Gonder on 18 Maskaram 1681 of the Ethiopian calendar (A.D. 25 September 1689). But the chronicle states that "Sinoda was not dismissed, and Marqos was sent to Sarka, where he was installed with all the honors due him, for two metropolitans could not reside in the same city." It may be deduced therefrom that the negus decided not to enthrone Marqos at this time, but to consider him as Sinoda's coadjutor. Thus, he sent Marqos to Sarka, a city near the frontier of Sennar, where this prelate had to reside. According to one source, Marqos lived there in company with his father, mother, and brother. He was not seen at Gonder for some years. When the negus visited the cathedral of Axum on 6 Yakkatit 1685 (A.D. 10 February 1693), he was accompanied by the aged
Abuna Sinoda. Upon his return to Gonder, on the feast day of Abuna Salama I, first bishop of Ethiopia (26 Hamle 1685/A.D. 30 July
1693), the negus had a letter read before a large assembly in which the Coptic patriarch John XVI, at the negus's request, declared that he was deposing Sinoda and elevating Marqos in his place. Marqos IV was enthroned immediately, so this date also marks his accession to the supreme throne.
In 1698, Abuna Marqos had to assist at a council wherein the question of union and unction was discussed anew. Once again the
thesis of the Unctionists was rejected, and its adherents excommunicated, by Marqos IV. During his sojourn in Gonder (July 1699-May 1700), the French physician Jacques Charles Poncet also had an interview with Abuna Marqos, who received him with great courtesy. At that time the physician noted the prestige accorded this metropolitan by the king and clergy.
In 1706, Iyyasu I had to leave the throne to his son Takla Haymanot and to the Unctionists, who had been hoping for this change. Immediately they reopened the controversy with the Unionists, but in March 1707 the abun responded as he had before. However, in 1708 they were successful after the accession to the throne of Negus Tewoflos, who was the protector of the order to which they belonged.
Without convoking a council, Tewoflos imposed by proclamation the doctrine of unction. Driven by political considerations, the negus hoped that by adopting this doctrine, he could appease Gojam, whose clergy was devoted to the Unctionist thesis. It appears that Marqos IV was then obliged to approve this doctrine, but there is little documentation for this period of his episcopate. Nor is there any information about the following period, that of the reign of Yostos the Usurper, so called because he descended only from a female line of the Solomonic dynasty. However, from the Abridged Chronicle it may be deduced that Abuna Marqos IV supported the political party that opposed Yostos and succeeded in replacing him by Dawit IV, who assumed power on 5 Yakkatit 1708 (A.D. 11 February 1716) and favored the Unctionists, and so it is possible that Marqos IV approved this decision.
A few weeks later there occurred an event that had repercussion in Europe. This was the trial of the Capuchin monks Liberato Weiss, Michele Pio da Zerbo, and Samuele de Beano, who had entered Ethiopia under the protection of Negus Yostos and were residing in Walqayt, a western district far removed from the capital. They were brought to Gonder, condemned and stoned to death on 27 Yakkatit 1708 (A.D. 4 March 1716). However, it does not follow that Marqos IV played a role in this trial, as has often been claimed. Moreover, his days were coming to an end, for he died on 30 Sane 1708 (A.D. 5 July 1716).
His successor was Abuna Krestodolu III.
KRESTODOLU III (d. 1735)
The immediate successor to Abuna Marqos IV, Krestodolu III was requested by Negus Dawit IV (1716-1721), protector of the monks of Ewostatewos (Unctionists) in the long controversy over union and unction. According to the Abridged Chronicle of Ethiopia, Krestodolu III arrived in the Ethiopian capital during the fifth year of Dawit's reign, on 5 Khedar 1713 of the Ethiopian calendar (A.D. 14 November 1720). Thus, he was consecrated by the Coptic patriarch PETER VI (1718-1726).
Upon his arrival in Gonder, Abuna Krestodolu III was forced by Dawit to take an official stand in the Christological dispute. After trying in vain to elude the negus's request, Krestodolu III, under pressure from a group of court dignitaries, finally issued the
following declaration, dated 2 Miyazya 1713 of the Ethiopian calendar (A.D. 8 April 1721): "By unction Jesus is the natural son of God." This greatly pleased the Unctionists, but the Unionists protested loudly, whereupon the metropolitan issued another declaration hoping to satisfy them: "By union Jesus is the only son, and by unction He is the Messiah." The negus's reaction was
immediate and terrible. After a great massacre by the royal troops of the monks in the order of Takla Haymanot (Unionists), Dawit IV
had Krestodolu III brought to him by force. In the metropolitan's presence, the negus publicly proclaimed the Unctionist doctrine,
thus giving it an official character. Krestodolu III could only stand by silently before the sovereign's declaration, but this silence
alienated him from the monks of the order of Takla Haymanot, who erased his name from the liturgies celebrated in their monasteries. Only five years later, following an agreement reached between Krestodolu III and the Zawalda Maryam, the head of the monks of the order of Takla Haymanot, was his name again included in their liturgy.
Krestodolu III crowned and blessed the new negus, Asma Giyorgis, called Bakkaffa, after his accession to the throne on 12 Genbot 1713 (A.D. 18 May 1721). Likewise, when this negus died on 11 Maskaram 1723 (A.D. 19 September 1730), it was Krestodolu III who administered absolution to the ruler's coffin and then blessed his successor, Negus Iyyasu II.
In 1723 there was a plot in Gonder to overthrow Iyyasu II and replace him with one of his relatives. The insurgents seized Abuna
Krestodolu III and the eccage Takla Haymanot, and forced them to excommunicate the negus. When the rebellion was suppressed, the two prelates had to justify their action. They explained that not only were they imprisoned but also they were told that Catholic priests were hidden in the palace and that Iyyasu II intended to favor the church of Rome. Thereupon, the negus, in a show of clemency, pardoned them.
According to the chronicle of Iyyasu II, Krestodolu III died on Saturday, 9 Nahase 1727 (A.D. 13 August 1735). His immediate successor was Yohannes III.
YOHANNES III (d. 1761)
Most information about Yohannes comes from the chronicles of Negus Iyyasu II (1730-1755) and Negus Iyyo’as I (1755-1769). According to the chronicles, six and a half years after the death of the Abuna Krestodolu III (d. 1735), hence toward the beginning of the year 1742, Iyyo’as II formed a delegation consisting of two Ethiopian prelates accompanied by three Muslim merchants,
provided them with 450 ounces of gold, and sent them to Egypt in quest of a new metropolitan. But the prestige of Ethiopia in the Red Sea area was then in decline, so much so that the mission suffered several misadventures on the outward and return journeys. It was first of all delayed at Massawa by the na’ib, a local chief nominally dependent on the Turkish authorities of the Red Sea, who before authorizing its embarkation relieved it of half the gold. On arriving at Jidda, the mission found that the last ship bound for Egypt had already left, which compelled it to spend ten months in this port. Moreover, during this forced sojourn in Arabia, one of the two Ethiopian prelates became a Muslim; it was thus the other prelate, Abba Tewodros, who reached Cairo and submitted the request from the negus to the Coptic patriarch JOHN XVII (1727-1745). On 22 Maskaram 1736 (A.D. 1 October 1743, a Coptic synod designated the new metropolitan of Ethiopia, who was consecrated by the patriarch and whose name was Yohannes III. Accompanied by Abba Tewodros, the metropolitan landed at Massawa on 12 Miyazya 1736 (A.D. 18 April 1744), but once again the na'ib delayed them with the aim of extorting money from them; it appears that in his doings the na’ib enjoyed the covert support of Mika’el Sehul, all-powerful lord of Tigre and ambitious vassal of the "King of Kings." At the end of five months, the metropolitan was able to escape from Massawa, thanks to the aid of the monks of Dabra Bizan, where he also found a refuge and was rejoined by Abba Tewodros after the latter was able to buy his freedom. It was in Sire that the metropolitan met Negus Iyyasu II, and finally, on 23 Terr 1738/A.D. 23 January 1745, Yohannes returned to Gonder, where he was able to assume all his functions.
Some months later, in the course of a campaign in Tigre, Iyyasu II laid hold of a prelate who for eighteen months had passed himself
off as the metropolitan of Ethiopia. Enjoying the protection of Mika’el Sehul, this usurper had even occupied Addi Abun, near Adwa, a fief of the metropolitan in Tigre. He was a Syrian priest who declared he had received the charge of metropolitan of Ethiopia
from the hands of the patriarch of Antioch, and this although the latter had never had jurisdiction over Ethiopian territory. Taken to
Gonder, this usurper was judged in the presence of Abuna Yohannes III and condemned to the amputation of his right hand (the hand, the chronicler specifies, with which "he had dared to consecrate in Tigre the tabot of so many churches and to ordain so many priests"); but the Negus remitted this penalty, limiting himself to expelling him from the country (February 1747).
In 1750, Negus Iyyasu II, together with Queen Mentewwab, his mother and coregent of the kingdom, decided to summon from
abroad some Catholic missionaries. The exact purpose of this is not known, only that the negus asked for missionaries equipped with
certain qualities (they had to be skilled artisans, have medical knowledge, and be good theologians). It was thus that in March
1752 three Franciscan missionaries arrived at the court of Gonder— two Czechs, Remedius Prutky and Martin Lang, accompanied by
Antony of Aleppo, a Syrian who served as their interpreter. Naturally the Franciscans nourished the hope of reconciling the court of Ethiopia with the Roman church, but Abuna Yohannes III, supported by the Ethiopian clergy, intervened vigorously before the negus and had the Catholic missionaries expelled from the country.
On 24 Sane 1747 (A.D. 25 June 1755), immediately after the death of Iyyasu II, the metropolitan proceeded to the coronation of
his son, Negus Iyyo’as I, who acceded to the throne at an early age under the guardianship of his grandmother Mentewwab. On 24
Miyazya 1750 (A.D. 30 April 1758), Yohannes III, accompanied by the eccage Henok, abbot of the monks of the order founded by
Abuna Takla Haymanot, was present at Gonder at the translation of the bones of Negus Bakkaffa and Negus Iyyasu II, ordered by
Queen Mentewwab; the remains of the two sovereigns were transferred from the church of Abuna Takla Haymanot to that of
Dabra Sahay in the presence, and with the blessing, of the metropolitan.
In the last months of his life, Yohannes III had to intervene in events important for the religious history of Ethiopia. A monk named Esate formulated a new doctrine that provoked violent reactions among the regular clergy (see below); the metropolitan condemned this teaching as heterodox and excommunicated Esate, along with his partisans. Those excommunicated took refuge in Waldebba, where their teaching spread rapidly, expanding from there to other territories. Since the sequel to these events unfolded after the death of Yohannes III but before the arrival of his successor in Ethiopia and since it had wide repercussions, it is appropriate to give a summary here: having rallied to the new teaching, the eccage Henok was anathematized by a part of the Ethiopian clergy. He appealed to the Coptic patriarch MARK VII (1745-1769), who in his letter of reply could only confirm the doctrinal position of the Coptic church and condemn the new teaching. Henok was then deposed by the clergy, but peace did not return to the country, where the new doctrine was to be the subject of discussion for a long time.
The doctrine condemned by Yohannes III is that of Ya-sagga lej (Son by Grace), according to which, since the Incarnation of Jesus
took place by virtue of the grace of the Holy Spirit, it would be right to say that Jesus is Son by Grace. Later there arose another doctrine often considered as derived from the first—the doctrine of sost ledat (three births), according to which Jesus had three births: first of all the eternal one, which came from the Father; then the human birth, which occurred through the Virgin Mary; and finally that which the grace of the Holy Spirit conferred upon him. As for the teaching recalled by the Coptic patriarch, it received in Ethiopia the name of karra (knife) for reasons that are not clear, perhaps because of the trenchant terms used by the patriarch Mark VII in his letter. The text of this letter seems lost, but one presumes that the Coptic patriarch then confirmed the traditional doctrine of the Alexandrian church, specifying that one could attribute to Jesus only two births: the eternal one and that received from the Holy Virgin.
Yohannes III was present only at the beginning of these religious controversies, for he died on 10 Khedar 1754 (A.D. 15 November
1761); in giving this date, the chronicle of Negus Iyyo’as adds that this metropolitan was buried in the Quddus Gabr’el church at
Gonder. He had as successor Abuna Yosab II, who arrived in Ethiopia eight years later.
YOSAB II (d. 1803)
Yosab's metropolitanate included the first part of the period called the Age of the Princes (Zamana Masafent, 1769-1855). During this period the Ethiopian state declined to its lowest level. The kingdom was from this time infiltrated at every point by the people of Oromo (or Galla). Quarrelsome and plundering regional chiefs disputed the wreckage of power, while the negus belonging to the so-called Solomonic dynasty declined to the rank of nominal sovereign, a puppet king maintaining himself on the throne only with the support of a regent protector. In this anarchy, and for want of the support of the throne, the exercise of the duties of the
metropolitan became arduous, and Yosab II had to suffer the consequences of this state of affairs.
Yosab arrived in Ethiopia toward the beginning of 1770, in the reign of Negus Takla Haymanot II (1769-1777), when the "Protector
of the Throne" was the ras Mika’el Sehul, chief of Tigre and effective master of the kingdom. At the time of Yosab II's arrival, the ras Mika’el tried to induce him to fix his seat in Tigre, but after some time, the metropolitan decided to go to Gonder, which he entered on 13 Sane 1762 in the Ethiopian calendar (A.D. 18 June 1770). From then on, during more than thirty-three years, Yosab II was involved in the events of the religious and political life of a state in decomposition. Several items of information about his episcopate
survive, but they give only a fragmentary picture, for they come above all from the royal chronicle of this period, an incoherent text
written by several different hands. Thus, there is a dearth of information about the first part of his episcopate, which unfolded during the reign of Negus Salomon II (1777-1779) and the first reign
