1. Menelik II, baptised as Sahle Maryam was king of Shewa from 1866 to 1889 and Emperor of Ethiopia from 1889 to his death in 1913.
58 Facts About Menelik II
1. 2.
Externally, Menelik II led Ethiopian troops against Italian invaders in the First Italo-Ethiopian War; following a decisive victory at the Battle of Adwa, recognition of Ethiopia's independence by external powers was expressed in terms of diplomatic representation at his court and delineation of Ethiopia's boundaries with the adjacent kingdoms.
3.
Menelik II expanded his realm to the south and east, into Oromo, Kaffa, Sidama, Wolayta and other kingdoms or peoples.
4.
Later in his reign, Menelik II established the first cabinet of ministers to help in the administration of the empire, appointing trusted and widely respected nobles and retainers to the first ministries.
5.
Menelik II was the son of the Shewan Amhara king, Negus Haile Melekot, and probably of the palace servant girl Ejigayehu Lemma Adyamo.
6.
Menelik II was born in Angolalla and baptized to the name Sahle Maryam.
7.
Early in the subsequent campaigns, Haile Malakot died, and Menelik II was captured and taken to the emperor's mountain stronghold, Amba Magdela.
8.
Bezabeh's attempt to raise an army against Menelik II failed; thousands of Shewans rallied to the flag of the son of Negus Haile Melekot and even Bezabeh's own soldiers deserted him for the returning prince.
9.
When Tewodros died by suicide, Menelik II arranged for an official celebration of his death even though he was personally saddened by the loss.
10.
Menelik II was cunning and strategic in building his power base.
11.
Menelik II organised extravagant three-day feasts for locals to win their favour, liberally built friendships with Muslims, and struck alliances with the French and Italians who could provide firearms and political leverage against the emperor.
12.
Menelik II had political and military acumen and made key engagements that would later prove essential as he expanded his empire.
13.
Menelik II argued that while the family of Yohannes claimed descent from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba through females of the dynasty, his claim was based on uninterrupted direct male lineage which made the claims of the House of Shewa equal to those of the elder Gondar line of the dynasty.
14.
On 3 November 1889, Menelik II was consecrated and crowned emperor before a glittering crowd of dignitaries and clergy by Abuna Mattewos, Bishop of Shewa, at the Church of Mary on Mount Entoto.
15.
The newly consecrated and crowned Emperor Menelik II quickly toured the north in force.
16.
Menelik II received the submission of the local officials in Lasta, Yejju, Gojjam, Wollo, and Begemder.
17.
Menelik II is argued to be the founder of modern Ethiopia.
18.
In 1898, Menelik II crushed a rebellion by Ras Mengesha Yohannes.
19.
Menelik II brought together many of the northern territories through political consensus.
20.
However, in the territories incorporated by military conquest, Menelik II's army carried out atrocities against civilians and combatants including torture, mass killings, and large scale slavery.
21.
Menelik II decided to build a house there and from 1887 this was her permanent base, which she named Addis Ababa.
22.
Menelik II's generals were all allocated land nearby to build their own houses, and in 1889 work began on a new royal palace.
23.
Only in 1917, after Menelik II's death, was the city reached by the railway from Djibouti.
24.
On 2 May 1889, while claiming the throne against Ras Mengesha Yohannes, the natural son of Emperor Yohannes IV, Menelik II concluded a treaty with Italy at Wuchale in Wollo province.
25.
The Italians believed they had tricked Menelik II into giving allegiance to Italy.
26.
Menelik II has broken through our frontiers to destroy our fatherland and our faith.
27.
Menelik II had ensured that his infantry and artillerymen were properly trained in their use, giving the Ethiopians a crucial advantage as the Hotchkiss artillery could fire more rapidly than the Italian artillery.
28.
Menelik II stated he allowed the Italians to go free "to give proof of my Christian faith," saying his quarrel was with the Italian government of Prime Minister Francesco Crispi that was trying to conquer his nation, not the ordinary Italian soldiers who been conscripted against their will to fight in the war.
29.
From Menelik II's viewpoint allowing the Italian POWs to go free and unharmed was the best way of rebutting this propaganda and undermining public support for Crispi.
30.
In signing the treaty, Menelik II again proved his adeptness at politics as he promised each nation something for what they gave and made sure each would benefit his country and not another nation.
31.
Menelik II assured the British that he would not support the Mahdists and declared them as the enemy of his country in exchange for cession of the northeastern part of the Haud region, a traditional Somali grazing area, to Ethiopia.
32.
Menelik II was fascinated by modernity, and like Tewodros II before him, he had a keen ambition to introduce Western technological and administrative advances into Ethiopia.
33.
Menelik II attempted unsuccessfully to introduce coinage to replace the Maria Theresa thaler.
34.
In 1894, Menelik II granted a concession for the building of a railway to his capital from the French port of Djibouti but, alarmed by a claim made by France in 1902 to control of the line in Ethiopian territory, he ordered a stop for four years on the extension of the railway beyond Dire Dawa.
35.
In 1906 when France, the United Kingdom, and Italy agreed on the subject, granting control to a joint venture corporation, Menelik II officially reaffirmed his full sovereign rights over the whole of his empire.
36.
Rather than waste his investment, Menelik II used one of the chairs as his throne, sending another to his second or Abate Ba-Yalew.
37.
Menelik II aims at being a popular sovereign, accessible to his people at all hours, and ready to listen to their complaints.
38.
Menelik II married three times but he did not have a single legitimate child with any of his wives.
39.
In 1864, Menelik II married Woizero Altash Tewodros, whom he divorced in 1865; the marriage produced no children.
40.
Menelik II was remarried to Dejazmatch Bariaw Paulos of Adwa.
41.
In 1865, the same year he divorced his first wife, Menelik II married the much older noblewoman Woizero Bafena Wolde Michael.
42.
Menelik II was very fond of his wife, but she apparently did not have a sincere affection for him.
43.
Finally, Menelik II divorced his treasonous wife in 1882, and in 1883, he married Taytu Betul.
44.
Menelik II enjoyed considerable influence on Menelik and his court until the end, something which was aided by her own family background.
45.
Previous to his marriage to Taytu Betul, Menelik II fathered several natural children.
46.
Menelik II's only recognised son, Abeto Asfa Wossen Menelik II, died unwed and childless when he was about fifteen years of age, leaving him with only two daughters.
47.
Menelik II was married four times, and eventually became empress in her own right, the first woman to hold that position in Ethiopia since the Queen of Sheba.
48.
Menelik II was only ten years old when Menelik got her married to Ras Araya Selassie Yohannes, the fifteen-year-old son of Emperor Yohannes IV, in 1886.
49.
Menelik II was married two more times for brief periods to Gwangul Zegeye and Wube Atnaf Seged before marrying Gugsa Welle in 1900.
50.
Menelik II died in 1913, and his grandson Iyasu claimed the throne on principle of seniority.
51.
Apart from the three recognised natural children, Menelik II was rumoured to be the father of some other children.
52.
On 27 October 1909, Menelik II suffered a massive stroke and his "mind and spirit died".
53.
Menelik II was buried quickly without announcement or ceremony at the Se'el Bet Kidane Meheret Church, on the grounds of the Imperial Palace.
54.
In 1916, Menelik II was reburied in the specially built church at Ba'eta Le Mariam Monastery in Addis Ababa.
55.
The historical figure that masterminded the victory at Adwa, Emperor Menelik II, presided over some of the most brutal atrocities committed against the various groups in the southern part of the country, particularly the Oromos, as they resisted his southward expansion.
56.
For Oromos, Menelik II is devil incarnate and is beyond redemption.
57.
Perhaps, the association of Adwa with Menelik II is the single most important reason behind Oromo ambivalence towards this historical event.
58.
Menelik II is featured as the leader of the Ethiopian civilization in the New Frontier season pass of the 4X video game Civilization VI.