Yostos

Who was Yostos?

Yostos or Justus was nəgusä nägäst of Ethiopia.

According to James Bruce, he was the son of Delba Iyasu and a daughter of Emperor Iyasu I. He had served as governor of Samien under Emperor Tekle Haymanot, but fell out of favor under Emperor Tewoflos—despite it was Yostos who, immediately after the assassination of Emperor Tekle Haymanot travelled to Mount Wehni and brought Tewoflos down.

According to Richard Pankhurst, on the death of Tewoflos, the chief nobles of Ethiopia feared that the cycle of vengeance that had characterized the reigns of the previous two rulers would continue if a member of the Solomonic dynasty were picked for the throne, so they selected one of their own to be nəgusä nägäst. However Yostos encountered many challenges to his authority, and was forced to remain in the capital of Gondar for his entire reign, leaving the city only to hunt. After a few years, the political situation stabilized enough for him to construct two new churches in Gondar, Lideta Mariyam in 1713, and Abba Antons in 1715.

Bruce notes that Yostos faced a conspiracy to depose him shortly after taking the throne: while he was away from Gondar on a hunt, a group of men he had entrusted his government to had planned to overthrow him. Yostos, with a body of picked men, returned to his capital at night and surprised them sitting in council. His chief minister, Ras Hezekias, and his Master of his Household, Heraclides, along with five others, had their nose and ears cut off then thrown into prison. One of the chief conspirators, Benaia Basile, however managed to escape, having been warned of Yostos' sudden return, but was later caught and punished.