PETROS III (d. 1607) Petros was certainly the successor of Krestodolu I, but in Ethiopian documents, information about his episcopate is fragmentary and scant, perhaps explained by the fact that the annals of the sovereigns of his time do not survive. Only the manifesto issued around 1624 by Negus Susenyos (1607-1632) in an effort to explain his joining the Catholic church gives a summary view of this episcopate. Denouncing the conduct of certain metropolitans in Ethiopia, this negus wrote: Abuna Petros [III], who succeeded this metropolitan [Krestodolu I], had relations with the wife of a Melchite, and when this fact became public, he paid the fine levied against any adulterer who corrupts the wife of another; certain witnesses having knowledge of this are still living, such as Joseph and Marino, who are foreigners not Ethiopians. Moreover, to this sin the metropolitan added other misdeeds. In the seventh year of Negus Ya‘qob's reign, Petros [III] issued a general excommunication which caused the people to depose Yaqob, exile him to Ennarya, and replace him with Za-Dengel. Later, he [Petros III] issued a second general excommunication in order to persuade the Ethiopians to get rid of Negus Za-Dengel, who was in fact killed [and replaced by Ya‘qob]. And as if that were not enough, when we [Susenyos] decided to fight against Negus Ya‘qob, the metropolitan [Petros III] went to war with him and fell with him on the battlefield. The essential facts referred to in this passage from Susenyos' manifesto must be summarized. Sarsa Dengel had had no male offspring by his wife Maryam Sena, but at his death he did leave some illegitimate sons. During his life he had designated his nephew Zadengel (his brother's son) to be his successor, but after his death the court decided instead upon Ya‘qob, who was Sarsa Dengel's illegitimate son and only seven years old at the time. Guided by a regency council, Ya‘qob reigned until Easter 1596 in the Ethiopian calendar (A.D. 1604). But because he showed a certain independent spirit, Ya‘qob was deposed and sent to Ennarya, and Zadengel was enthroned in his place. It is to this dethronement of Ya‘qob that Petros first excommunication mentioned by Susenyos refers. A few months later, Zadengel, in turn, found himself in difficulty. He was suspected of wishing to introduce social reform and of leaning toward the Catholic faith then being preached by the Jesuits. This provoked a reaction among the conservatives of the court, so Petros III thereupon excommunicated Zadengel, who was deposed and killed. A fight for the throne then ensued between Ya‘qob and Susenyos, the son of Negus Sarsa Dengel's cousin. In this fight the metropolitan sided with Ya‘qob and accompanied him on his military campaign. The first onslaught occurred on 18 Miyazya 1598 of the Ethiopian calendar (A.D. 23 April 1606) at Cacaho, where Petros III was slightly wounded. Susenyos then won the decisive battle that took place at Gol (in Gojam), on 4 Maggabit 1599 of the Ethiopian calendar (A.D. 10 March 1607). During this combat, both Negus Ya‘qob and Abuna Petros III died on the battlefield. According to an Ethiopian source, the metropolitan was killed by a soldier who did not recognize him because he was not wearing his cross. There are no other data concerning this metropolitan, whose successor was Abuna Sem‘on. BIBLIOGRAPHY Almeida, M. de. Historia de Ethiopia a Alta ou Abassia, p. 399. Rerum Aethiopicarum Scriptores Occidentales Inediti 6. Rome, 1907. Basset, R. "Etudes sur l'histoire d'Ethiopie." Journal asiatique 18, ser. 7 (1881):120. Béguinot, F. La cronaca abbreviata d'Abissinia, pp. 41-42. Rome, 1901. Esteves Pereira, F. M. Chronica de Susenyos, rei de Ethiopia, Vol. 2, pp. 63-64, 70-72, 359-60. Lisbon, 1900. Guidi, I. "Le liste dei metropoliti d'Abissinia." Bessarione 6, ser. 1 (1899):11, n. 2. Ludolf, I. Ad suam Historiam Aethiopicam antehac editam Commentarius, pp. 510-11. Frankfurt am Main, 1691. Paez, P. Historiae Aethiopiae, p. 325. Rerum Aethiopicarum Scriptores Occidentales Inediti 3. Rome, 1906. SEM‘ON (d. 1617) The exact date of the arrival in Ethiopia of the successor to Abuna Petros III is not recorded in Ethiopian documents, but from the information available, it appears that Susenyos (Seltan Sagad; 1607-1632) had him sent from Cairo, no doubt to fill the vacancy left by the death of Petros III. Sem‘on probably arrived in Ethiopia around 1608, a date that seems to be confirmed by the fact that— according to the Jesuit Pero Páez, who was then in the country— Sem‘on was the metropolitan who proceeded with the solemn coronation of Susenyos in the cathedral of Axum on 23 March 1609. Thus, Sem‘on must have been chosen and consecrated by the Coptic patriarch Mark V (1602-1618). According to Páez, in 1615 the eccage Zawangel, eighteenth abbot of Dabra Libanos and head of all the regular clergy, asked Susenyos to proclaim that the power to ordain deacons and priests be granted to the eccage, while the power to consecrate the holy chrism (qeddus meron) remain with the metropolitan. But this request could have led to the separation of the Ethiopian church from the Egyptian church, for, according to tradition, the power to confer holy orders belonged only to the metropolitan, while that of consecrating the holy chrism belonged only to the Coptic patriarch. Therefore, Abuna Sem‘on opposed Zawangel request, which was then denied by the negus. As a result there was no schism. In 1603 the Jesuits had undertaken their work in Ethiopia, and their influence—which was favored by the prudent and clever conduct of Páez—soon spread, above all in the court circles. When Sem‘on perceived the king's inclination toward Catholicism (as well as that of some members of the royal household), he tried to thwart it. In Jesuit writings Semon is often accused of being the "soul of the rebellion," but it is not difficult to understand that this metropolitan was endeavoring to support those Ethiopian groups fighting to maintain the faith of their traditional church. That is why, when Yolyos, Susenyos' son-in-law, revolted against the king and his religious politics, Sem‘on allied himself with Yolyos, joined with the rebel troops, whom he blessed and urged to fight, and issued an anathema against the royal army. However, victory went to Susenyos, for on 6 Genbot 1609 of the Ethiopian calendar (A.D. 11 May 1617), both Sem‘on and Yolyos died on the battlefield at Sadda. According to the chronicle of Susenyos, the negus sincerely grieved over the metropolitan's death and ordered that he be buried in the church with all honors due his rank. However, in the manifesto issued by Susenyos around 1624, the negus criticized Sem‘on's entire conduct, blaming him not only for having incited Yolyos to revolt but also for having led a deplorable private life because he had kept several concubines. According to a report written by the Jesuit Aloysius de Azevedo from Fremona in Tigre and dated 8 July 1619, after Sem‘on's death, Susenyos hastened to ask the Coptic patriarch—doubtless John XV (1619-1634)—to send a new metropolitan to Ethiopia. De Azevedo added that the new metropolitan, a man of "a certain age" with grizzled hair, left Egypt for Ethiopia but died en route. Since this Coptic bishop, whose very name is unknown, never was able to exercise his duties, it is logical not to include him among the metropolitans of the Ethiopian church. After this initial request, Susenyos no longer addressed the Coptic patriarchate. In 1622 he publicly embraced Catholicism and in 1626 he received the Jesuit Alphonso Mendez as successor to Páez and solemnly gave him the title patriarch of Ethiopia. It was only after the abdication of Susenyos, followed by Ethiopia's official return to the faith of the church of Alexandria (1632), that the new negus, Fasiladas, son of Susenyos, could think of asking the Coptic patriarchate to send a new metropolitan. Thus, the successor of Abuna Semon was Abuna Marqos III. BIBLIOGRAPHY Almeida, M. de. Historia de Ethiopia a alta ou Abassia, pp. 217-21, 279-91, 296-303, 317-19, 399-400. Rerum Aethiopicarum Scriptores Occidentales Inediti 6. Rome, 1907. Basset, R. "Etudes sur l'historie d'Ethiopie," Journal asiatique 18, ser. 7 (1881):123. Béguinot, F. La cronaca abbreviata d'Abissinia, p. 45. Rome, 1901. Cerulli, E. "Gli abbati di Dabra Libanos, capi del monachismo etiopico, secondo la "lista rimata.'" Orientalia 13 (1944):160-61. Esteves Pereira, F. M. Chronica de Susenyos, rei de Ethiopia, Vol. 2, pp. 127-28, 454-55. Lisbon, 1900. Guidi, I. "Le liste dei metropoliti d'Abissinia." Bessarione 6, ser. 1 (1899):11, n. 3. Kolmodin, J. Traditions de Tsazzega et Hazzega: Annales et documents, Vol. 3, p. A35. Uppsala, 1914. Le Grand, J. Relation historique d'Abyssinie du R. P. Lobo, pp. 253, 501. Paris, 1728. Ludolf, I. Historia Aethiopica sive brevis et succincta descriptio regni Habessinorum, Vol. 3, caput 7, 17-22, and caput 10, 37- 63. Frankfurt am Main, 1681. ______. Ad suam Historiam Aethiopicam antehac editam Commentarius, p. 511. Frankfurt am Main, 1691. Páez, P. Historia Aethiopiae, Vol. 2, pp. 126, 370-80, 384-87, 393- 94, 396-400, and Vol. 3, pp. 336, 355-58, 495-96. Rerum Aethiopicarum Scriptores Occidentales Inediti 2-3. Rome, 1905- 1906. Rossini, C. Documenta ad Illustrandam Historiam, Vol. 1, Liber Axumae. In CSCO 58, pp. 56-57, 90-91.