Baeda Maryam II

Who was Baeda Maryam II?

Baeda Maryam II was nəgusä nägäst of Ethiopia. He may have been the son of Salomon II. Although E. A. Wallis Budge, in his book A History of Ethiopia: Nubia and Abyssinia, notes some authorities believe Baeda Maryam was the same person as Salomon III, Nathaniel Pearce, who met the former Emperor when he visited Ras Wolde Selassie 20 January 1813, states that he had been Emperor only once, for nine months.

Pearce provides a short account of Baeda Maryam's reign. He had been made Emperor by Dejazmach Wolde Gabriel, and after he was deposed by Ras Aligaz, Baeda Maryam found refuge with Ras Guebra. The Royal chronicle provides further details: when Emperor Tekle Giyorgis I was absent from Gondar raiding near Shawra, Baeda Maryam was proclaimed emperor over the protests of Abuna Yosab III and the Ichege. At the same time Wolde Gabriel was elevated to Ras and Betwodded. However, according to the Royal chronicle Baeda Maryam found little support beyond Wolde Gabriel: not long after his coronation, retainers of Ras Guebra at Shawada and Mosabit clashed with the retainers of Wolde Gabriel; Dejazmach Wolde Selassie appeared to support Baeda Maryam as emperor, but he sent a secret message to Dejazmach Haile Wand Bewossen of support. Both Ras Wolde Gabriel and Emperor Baeda Maryam campaigned in the provinces in a show of strength, but by the rainy season Baeda Maryam had returned to Gondar.