Medieval Ethiopian Kingship, Craft, and Diplomacy with Latin Europe

by Verena Krebs

This book explores why Ethiopian kings pursued long-distance diplomatic contacts with Latin Europe in the late Middle Ages. It traces the history of more than a dozen embassies dispatched to the Latin West by the kings of Solomonic Ethiopia, a powerful Christian kingdom in the medieval Horn of Africa. Drawing on sources from Europe, Ethiopia, and Egypt, it examines the Ethiopian kings' motivations for sending out their missions in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries - and argues that a desire to acquire religious treasures and foreign artisans drove this early intercontinental diplomacy. Moreover, the Ethiopian initiation of contacts with the distant Christian sphere of Latin Europe appears to have been intimately connected to a local political agenda of building monumental ecclesiastical architecture in the North-East African highlands, and asserted the Ethiopian rulers' claim of universal kingship and rightful descent from the biblical king Solomon. Shedding new light on the self-identity of a late medieval African dynasty at the height of its power, this book challenges conventional narratives of African-European encounters on the eve of the so-called 'Age of Exploration'.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Medieval, Ethiopia, Africa, Medieval History

325 pages, Hardcover

First published March 18, 2021

Reviews

[Øystein Brekke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just the kind of history book that I like!

This is an academic book, and I imagine it is primarily intended for a scholarly readership. It presents the author's own, new research on the topic. But, (and I am a historian myself, although not working in academia, so I may not represent the average reader, but anyway): This book should be accessible to most readers interested in history, not too jargon heavy, and not getting bogged down in esoteric theoretical discussions. The book is based in a review of sources, presents what the sources have to say, places them in their historical context and then, based on this, builds its case, and contrasts this with earlier historians' views. And based on actual reading of actual sources, she rejects earlier assumptions that were based more on general assumptions, prejudice and theories. It is a joy to behold!

The topic: From the early 15th century, the Ethiopian court sent several embassies to the Catholic Christian countries of Europe. Earlier scholarship has tended to assume that they were primarily after superior European technology, not least arms technology, and allies in fights against Muslim neighbours. Krebs rejects this as assumptions that are not supported by the sources. What a multitude of sources, European and Ethiopian, point to, is that the main goal of the Ethiopian rulers was to acquire items of religious significance, relics, church art and artisans, and simply showing themselves to their domestic populace as rulers with international contacts (apologies to the author if I misunderstand or oversimplify).

The source material is fascinating. I have worked on this period in a completely different part of the world, but knew nothing about this topic before. The descriptions of cultural contacts are fascinating and evocative, and I am left wanting to learn more about Ethiopian history, and also about the wider topic of Medieval contact between Europe and Africa. This was a very good read!

[Yoni T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book. Although it's very academic and probably intended for scholars, any layman/woman interested in Medieval and African history will find this book very engaging and full of surprises as it offers a completely new perspective on the historical relations between Europe and Africa.