King Amda Seyon (Amda tseyon) I, the 14th c. Ethiopian monarch: Part 7: In the campaign of 1322 CE, with the help of the Virgin Mary, the king defeats the apostates near Talag
CONTENT INFORMATION
Story Type: Miracle of Mary
Story Theme(s): Kings & Emperors; Weapons & War; Interfaith Relations
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
Earliest Attested Instance of the Story: 1995 - 1996
Earliest Manuscripts in which Story Appears: TGS (EOTC) 1988-1996
Total Manuscripts in which Story Appears: 1
Total Incipits in the ITool: 1
Incipit(s): ወአመ ፡ ሳብዕት ፡ ዕለት ፡ ዘውእቱ ፡ አመ ፡ ዓሡሩ ፡ ወአሚሩ ፡ ለነሐሴ ፡ እም ፡ አመ ፡ ቦአ ፡ ውስተ ፡ ሀገረ ፡ ተለግ ፡ ተንሥአ ፡ ይሑር ፡ ዓምደ ፡ ጽዮን ፡ ውስተ ፡ ካልእ ፡ ብሔር ፡ እንተ ፡ መንገለ ፡ ደቡባ ፡ ለይእቲ ፡ ሀገረ ፡ ተለግ ፡ ወአስተፋነውዎ ፡, from TGS (EOTC) 1988-1996, f. 1041
ID Numbers: PEMM Theme ID 600.07; PEMM ID 1187
Translations & editions of this story
Amharic: Täsfa Gäbrä Śəllase. 1996. From TGS (EOTC) 1988-1996, p. 1041.
Manuscripts in which story appears:
1900s: TGS (EOTC) 1988-1996, f. 1041
This story, with the short title "Campaign of Amda Seyon 7," is very recent: the earliest PEMM manuscript* in which this story appears is from around 1996.
It is unique: it appears in only 1 of the 709 PEMM manuscripts.
This story is not illustrated in PEMM manuscripts.
It is a post-life miracle: it does not take place during Our Lady Mary's lifetime, but after it.
This story was originally composed in Ethiopia, Africa (confirmed).
It is available in the following languages: Amharic, Geʿez, English.
If you think any of the information on this page is incorrect (e.g., the date, manuscripts, translation), please use our PEMM Feedback Form to let us know. We depend on users like you to improve the site.
* A "PEMM manuscript" is defined as any Geʿez Marian manuscript or book that PEMM has catalogued. For more information, see Using the Site.
Summary
King Amde Tsion traveled first to Teleg, then to Ararat. Twenty-four days later, he celebrated John the Baptizer’s feast and built a church in his name. Some days later, on the seventeenth of Maskaram (around September 23), he proceeded to Hazjiya and stayed for eight days to celebrate the feast of the Cross and attend to government affairs. Next, he went to Bqulzar and commanded the governor there to assemble the region’s clergy who had apostatized from Christ. The governor did as he’d been commanded, and when the clergy had assembled, King Amde Tsion confronted them in terrifying splendor. As he spoke, angels descended and flogged the Christ-deniers, leaving burn marks on their backs. The deniers all marveled, and their faith in Christ was restored.
Translation
Translated by Mehari Worku from TGS (EOTC) 1988-1996, p. 1041, in 2022.
An edited English translation of this story is not yet available. The following is a rough draft.
The miracle of Our Lady Mary, Holy Twofold Virgin, the Mother of God. May her prayer and blessings be with us forever and ever. Amen.
On the twenty-first of Nahase, which was the seventh day since he had arrived at Teleg, King Amde Tsion began marching toward another region south of Teleg. Teleg’s people accompanied Amde Tsion [for some distance] in great honor.
Then Amde Tsion and his army crossed the River Zeraat and reached Ararat. After twenty-four days, on the first of Maskaram, Amde Tsion celebrated John the Baptizer’s feast.1 He built a church in John the Baptizer’s name.
Then he went to Hazjiya and celebrated the feast of Jesus Christ’s Cross on the seventeenth of Maskaram. He stayed there for eight days attending to governmental affairs. In that region, he built a church in the name of Jesus Christ’s Cross.
Then he marched for seven days and reached Bqulzar. As soon as he reached there, he summoned the region’s governor and said, “Bring me those priests, deacons, and laity who apostatized from Christ, since I appointed you as governor to this region. If you refuse my command, I will chain you, torture you, kill your children and family. Then, I will appoint another governor to the region in your stead.”
The governor said trembling, “Yes, my lord! I will bring those people [right away].”
Immediately, he sent messengers across the region. [Soon] the messengers brought the apostatized priests and handed them over to the king’s soldiers. The soldiers brought them into the king’s court.
The king, then, said to the priests, “Is it true that you have denied Jesus Christ, son of the Living Lord, the creator of the heavens and the earth? Is it true that you have become Muslims, changing your baptism where you received the spiritual birth from the Holy Spirit, when your fathers consecrated you?”
The priests couldn’t reply because they were terrified of the king’s splendor.
He angrily said for a third time, “Didn’t you hear what the Apostle Paul said: ‘Who can make us abandon Christ’s love and believing in the Incarnation of the son of the Lord and his enfleshment from the chosen, glorious, Holy Virgin Mary? Pain? Persecution? Exile? Hunger? Nakedness? Sword? Oppression?’
“As the Scripture says, ‘They kill us every day because of you. We have become like sheep which are to be slaughtered.’ But we defeat the evil one’s every power because he loved us and ransomed us.2
“I believe, however, that there is nothing that could make us abandon the Lord’s love in Christ Jesus Our Lord. Neither death, nor life, nor the first ones, nor the things that are now, nor the things that will come to be, nor power, nor that [which] is from above, nor that [which] is from the depths, nor a second birth. There is no one who can make us abandon Christ’s love.”
They couldn’t respond to him at all.
After saying this, “See, I am not the one who judges you. Rather, may the punishment of the Lord come upon you. May the prayer of Our Lady Mary, Holy Twofold Virgin, the Mother of God, split you in two like a grass.”
While these words were coming out of King Amde Tsion’s mouth, the Christ-deniers cried out, saying, “Behold, the angels have come down to punish us with blazing whips and pierce us with burning arrows! Your majesty! Save us! Deliver us from the angels who punish us! We know that you are orthodox, the Lord’s minister the servant of Our Lady Mary, Holy Twofold Virgin, the Mother of God!”
That big gathering immediately became turbulent [because of the angels’ punishing acts a=gainst the apostates]. The people [watching this] said to one another, “We have never heard or seen such a thing before! What is this? We don’t see anyone, but we hear lashing and flogging sounds.”
The priests and deacons cried out, saying, “Woe is us! Woe to us! Our body is burning! Our soul is consumed with fire! We are not lying! Look at our flogged backs!”
Immediately, the king ordered the soldiers to take the apostates’ clothes off. The soldiers disrobed the apostates. There was a flogging sign on their skin that looked scorched with fire.
The king quickly stood up from his throne and said loudly, “Look what Our Lady, the Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ, did by her son’s power!”
The people gathered said, “How did this happen?! This is amazing! This is astonishing! From now on we believe in Jesus Christ, the wonder worker by the hands of Ethiopia’s Kig Amde Tsion, his servant.”
Right there, all of the people, men and women, great and small, believed.
They glorified the Lord unanimously, saying, “Glory to the Lord, Amde Tsion’s God, who brought us out from stumbling in darkness and gave us the irreplaceable light. Glory to his Virgin Mother, the pride of Christians and the intercessor of life to our souls!”
May her prayers and blessings be with us forever and ever. Amen.
TO CITE THIS TRANSLATION
Mehari Worku. . 2022. "ID 1187: King Amda Seyon (Amda tseyon) I, the 14th c. Ethiopian monarch: Part 7: In the campaign of 1322 CE, with the help of the Virgin Mary, the king defeats the apostates near Talag." From TGS (EOTC) 1988-1996, p. 1041. Täˀammərä Maryam (Miracle of Mary) Stories, edited by Wendy Laura Belcher, Jeremy Brown, Mehari Worku, and Dawit Muluneh. Princeton: Princeton Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Egyptian Miracles of Mary project. https://pemm.princeton.edu/stories/1187.
This story, with the short title "Campaign of Amda Seyon 7," is very recent: the earliest PEMM manuscript* in which this story appears is from around 1996.
It is unique: it appears in only 1 of the 709 PEMM manuscripts.
This story is not illustrated in PEMM manuscripts.
It is a post-life miracle: it does not take place during Our Lady Mary's lifetime, but after it.
This story was originally composed in Ethiopia, Africa (confirmed).
It is available in the following languages: Amharic, Geʿez, English.
If you think any of the information on this page is incorrect (e.g., the date, manuscripts, translation), please use our PEMM Feedback Form to let us know. We depend on users like you to improve the site.
* A "PEMM manuscript" is defined as any Geʿez Marian manuscript or book that PEMM has catalogued. For more information, see Using the Site.