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Tewodros II (also known as '''Theodore II''') ( 1818 - 1868 ) was an Emperor Of Ethiopia ( 1855 - 1868). His name at birth was Kassa Haile Giorgis, but was more regularly referred to as Kassa Hailu. His rule is often placed as the beginning of modern Ethiopia , ending the decentralized Zemena Mesafint (Era of the Princes). EARLY YEARS Kassa was the son of a minor nobleman of the Qwara district of the province of Dembea . Dembea was part of the large territory known as ''Ye Maru Kamas'', or "that which has been tasted by Maru". It was the personal fief of Dejazmach Maru, a powerful warlord, and relative of Kassa Hailu (possibly a half-uncle). Kassa's mother, Woizero Atitegeb, was of the lower nobility, and was originally from Gondar . Although generally regarded as a non-royal usurper, Tewodros II, would late in his reign claim that his father was decended from Emperor Fasilides by way of a daughter, although most of his contemporaries did not aknowledge the legitimacy of these claims. When he was very young, his parents divorced and Woizero Atitegeb moved back to Gondar taking her son with her. Not long after their departure, news reached them that Kassa's father had died. Kassa's paternal relatives split up the entire inheritance, leaving young Kassa and his mother with nothing and in very dire circumstances financially. To make ends meet, it is often stated that Woizero Atitegeb was reduced to selling " Kusso ", a native herbal remedy used to purge patients of intestinal worms (a common occurrence because of the Ethiopian love of raw meat dishes). Kassa would be taunted often for being a "Kosso sellers son", an insult that Tewodros II seldom forgave. RISE TO POWER He was born into a country rife with Civil War , and he destroyed many provincial Warlord s before becoming emperor. The times were known as the Zemene Mesafint or "Age of the Princes". During this era, warlords, regional princes and noble houses, vied with each other for power and control. They divided up the Empire into personal fiefs and fought each other continuously. A puppet Emperor of the dynasty was enthroned in Gondar by one warlord, only to be dethroned and replaced by another member of the Imperial dynasty when a different warlord was able to seize Gondar and the reigns of power. Regions such as Gojjam and Shewa were ruled by their own branches of the Imperial dynasty, and in Shewa, the local prince went as far as assuming the title of King. Kassa of Kwara began his career in this era as a bandit, and after ammassing a sizable force of followers, was able to not only restore himself to his father's previous fief of Kwara, but was able to control all of Dembia, garnering the notice of the current warlord in control of Gondar, Ras Ali II Of Yejju . Ras Ali had enthroned Emperor Yohannes III , forcing the Emperor to marry Ali's mother, the formidable Empress Menen Liben Amede . Empress Menen was the true power behind her son and her hapless husband, and it was she who arranged for Kassa of Qwara to marry her granddaughter, Tewabech Ali and the grant to Kassa of the title of Dejazmach. She awarded him all of ''Ye Maru Kamas'' in the hopes of binding him firmly to her son and herself. Although the marriage was a success, Kassa's relationship with his new in-laws deteriorated largely because of the disdainful treatment he repeatedly received from the Empress Menen. He ended up rebelling against Ras Ali, and both the Ras and the Empress send numerous military campaigns to subdue him, all of which he handily defeated. Finally, he camptured Empress Menen, and Ras Ali fled and went into hiding. Kassa announced that he was deposing Yohannes III, and then marched on his greatest remaining rival, Dejazmach Wube Haile Mariam of Simien. Following the defeat of Dejazmach Wube, Kassa was crowned Emperor by Abuna Salama III in the church of Derasge Maryam on February 11 , 1855. He took the throne name of Tewodros II, to fulfill a prophesy that a man named Tewodros would restore the Ethiopian Empire to greatness. Tewodros refused to aknowledge an attempt to restore the former Emperor Sahle Dengel in the place of the hapless Yohannes III who had aknowledged Tewodros immediately. Yohannes III was treated well by Tewodros who seems to have had some personal sympathy for him. His views on Sahle Dengel are not known, but are not likely to have been sympathetic. HIS REIGN Tewodros sought to unify and modernise Ethiopia , however, since he was nearly always away on campaign during his tenure as emperor, disloyal leaders frequently tried to dislodge him whilst he was away fighting. Within a few short years, he had forcibly brought back under direct Imperial rule, the Kingdom of Shewa and the province of Gojjam. He crushed the many warlords of Wollo and Tigray and brought recalcitrant regions of Begemder and Simien under his direct rule. He moved the Capital City of the Empire from Gondar , first to Debre Tabor , and later to Magdala . Tewodros ended the division of Ethiopia among the various regional warlords and princes that had vied among each other for power for almost two centuries. He forcibly re-incorporated the regions of Gojjam , Shewa and Wollo under the direct administration of the Imperial throne after having been ruled by local branches of the Imperial dynasty (in Gojjam and Shewa) or other warlords (Wollo). With all of his rivals apparently subdued, he imprisoned them and their relatives comfortably at Magdala. Among the royal and aristocratic prisoners at Magdala was the young Prince of Shewa, Sahle Mariam, who would one day ascend the Imperial Throne as Emperor Menelik II . Tewodros doted on the young prince, and in fact married him to his own daughter Alitash Tewodros . Menelik would eventually escape from Magdalla, and abandon his wife, offending Tewodros deeply. The death of his beloved wife, Empress Tewabech, marked a deterioration in Tewodros II's behavior. Increasingly erratic and vengeful, he gave full reign to some of his more brutal tendencies now that the calming influence of his wife was absent. Tewodros II remarried, this time to the daughter of his imprisoned enemy Dejazmatch Wube. The new Empress, Tiruwork Wube was a haughty and proud woman, who disdained her husband for having been of a socially inferior origin than that of her own aristocratic family which traced its lineage to the Imperial dynasty itself. The marriage was not a happy one, and was extremely stormy. They did manage to produce a son, Dejazmatch Alemayehu Tewodros whom the Emperor adored and whom he regarded as his heir. During the period that Tewodros was emperor of Ethiopia, the Red Sea region was marked by constant Warfare . The Ottoman Empire and Egypt in the north were both ardent enemies of Ethiopia, and on numerous occasions sought to take over the country. Tewodros, fearful of these northerly powers, wrote a letter to Queen Victoria asking for British assistance in the region. After two years had passed and Tewodros had not received a reply, he imprisoned several British subjects in an attempt to get Victoria's attention. This led to a British Invasion under Robert Napier , who, with the help of several of the warlords that Tewodros spent his life fighting against, defeated the Ethiopian army. As a result, Tewodros committed Suicide on April 13 , 1868. Soon after his suicide, the British looted and burned the city of Magdala including its churches, and departed from Ethiopia. They took a large number of treasures that today can be seen in various museums and libraries in Europe, as well as in private collections. HIS SON The widowed Empress Tiruwork and the young heir of Tewodros, Alemayehu, were also to be taken to England. However, Empress Tiruwork died on the journey to the coast, and little Alemayehu made the journey alone. The Empress was buried at Sheleqot monastery in Tigrai among her ancestors. Although Queen Victoria subsidised the education of Dejazmatch Alemayehu Tewodros, Captain Speedy was appointed as his guardian. He developed a very strong attachment to Captain Speedy and his wife; however, Prince Alemayehu grew increasingly lonely as the years went by, and his compromised health made things even harder, and died at the age of 19 without seeing his homeland again. He left a warm impression on Queen Victoria who seemed to have been truly saddened at his untimely death. BIBLIOGRAPHY
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