Zemene Mesafint – ‘Age of the Princes’ (1769 – 1855)
This was a period of great instability and division when a succession of 23 Emperors held the throne. There was no powerful central authority uniting and controlling the warring princes and provincial kings who continuously fought each other. They competed to extend their own lands at each other’s expense and be seen as the guardians of whoever was the current, but nominal, King of Kings enthroned at Gondar.
This period ended in 1855 with the coronation of Tewedros II (b. 1818 – 1868) after he militarily defeated all his rival princes. Full imperial power was once again in the hands of one leader and the history of modern Ethiopia began.
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