Eleni of Ethiopia

Who was Eleni of Ethiopia?

Eleni or Helena was the wife of Zara Yaqob, and Empress of Ethiopia. She played a significant role in the government of Ethiopia during her lifetime, acting as regent or advisor to a number of emperors; one testimony of this is the manuscript Bruce 88, which states that she had been in the palace of three illustrious Emperors: Zara Yaqob; his son by another wife, Baeda Maryam I, and Na'od.

The daughter of Mehmad king of Hadiya, she converted to Christianity upon marrying Zara Yaqob. Although the Portuguese historian Baltazar Téllez wrote that she had no children, in some manuscripts of Francisco Álvares's The Prester John of the Indies, a male relative of Lebna Dengel who escaped from Amba Geshen is described as her son, according to the translator but not the original text

With his own mother Tsion Mogasa dead, Emperor Baeda Maryam I gave Eleni the title of Queen Mother. She proved to be an effective member of the royal family; Paul B. Henze comments that she "was practically co-monarch" during his reign. When Eskender succeeded his father Emperor Baeda Maryam I, at first Empress Eleni was pushed out of power by the Bitwoded Amda Mikael. However, around 1486 she participated in a palace coup that led to his deposition and execution, and Queen Eleni thereafter played a leading role in the Emperor's government, which continued into the reign of Emperor Na'od.