Za Dengel

Who was Za Dengel?

Za Dengel was negusä nägäst of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the son of Lesana Krestos, the brother of Sarsa Dengel.

Za Dengel may have been married to Woizero Wangelawit, eldest daughter of his second cousin Susenyos and lady Wolde Saala of Walaqa and Marabete.

Sarsa Dengel had intended to make his nephew as his heir, recognizing that to avert the civil war that would likely follow his death an adult would be needed, and the emperor's own sons were quite young. These plans were changed primarily through the influence of Empress Sena Maryam, stepmother of Emperor's eldest surviving son Prince Yaqob, who was made emperor in 1597. The empress had Za Dengel seized and confined in a religious retreat on the island of Dek in Lake Tana. Za Dengel eventually managed to escape, taking refuge in Gojjam.

In 1603 Za Dengel was made Emperor by Ras Za Sellase, who intended Za Dengel to be little more than a figurehead. He was crowned as Asnaf Segad. However, Za Dengel summoned the Jesuit Pedro Páez to his court at Dankaz, who persuaded him to embrace Catholicism.