Emperor Zara Yaqob Reforms Ethiopian Church

1436

The Solomonic emperor of Ethiopia centralized the Ethiopian Orthodox Church under royal authority, imposed rigorous doctrinal uniformity across the highlands, and persecuted followers of traditional religions with an inquisitorial zeal that rivaled anything in contemporary Europe. He composed theological treatises defending the veneration of the Virgin Mary and demanded that all subjects wear Christian amulets. Ethiopian Christianity acquired its distinctively orthodox and politically enmeshed character under his authoritarian piety.