Medieval Ethiopian Kingship, Craft, and Diplomacy with Latin Europe

This book explores why Ethiopian kings pursued long-distance diplomatic contacts with Latin Europe in the late Middle Ages. It traces the history of more than a dozen embassies dispatched to the Latin West by the kings of Solomonic Ethiopia, a powerful Christian kingdom in the medieval Horn of Africa. Drawing on sources from Europe, Ethiopia, and Egypt, it examines the Ethiopian kings’ motivations for sending out their missions in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries – and argues that a desire to acquire religious treasures and foreign artisans drove this early intercontinental diplomacy. Moreover, the Ethiopian initiation of contacts with the distant Christian sphere of Latin Europe appears to have been intimately connected to a local political agenda of building monumental ecclesiastical architecture in the North-East African highlands, and asserted the Ethiopian rulers’ claim of universal kingship and rightful descent from the biblical king Solomon. Shedding new light on the self-identity of a late medieval African dynasty at the height of its power, this book challenges conventional narratives of African-European encounters on the eve of the so-called ‘Age of Exploration'.

“Verena Krebs offers a fresh look at medieval Ethiopia by re-examining the encounters with Latin Europa in the late medieval period. … The interest of the Ethiopian kings, to anticipate a major insight of the book, aimed at gathering valuable items such as attire, relics, and craftsmanship for representative … . Verena Krebs is to be congratulated on this book. … The readers are waiting eagerly for a follow-up study which the author has already been announcing.” (Endale Haile Fereja, Archa Verbi - Yearbook for the Study of Medieval Theology, Vol. 19, 2022)

“Krebs has made a compelling, original, and well-argued case for the motive explicated here. … she is the first to treat it comprehensively … offer a fascinating and contextually based theory as to why. Finally, her focus on the Solomonic perspective in Ethiopia’s wider relations, and her interrogation of the legacies of scholarship born in earlier eras, are interventions of relevance beyond this study’s immediate subject. Any future reflection on these matters will have to take this book into account.” (Samantha Kelly, Aethiopica, Vol. 25, 2022)

“Medieval Ethiopian Kingship, Craft, and Diplomacy with Latin Europe is a masterful evaluation of varied sources detailing Ethiopian diplomatic relations with the Latin West. … The book is certain to illuminate a fascinating history of the politics of aesthetics and collecting valued objects among the privileged and the elite of medieval Ethiopia.” (Earnestine Jenkins, African Studies Review, Vol. 66 (3), September, 2023)

“The book stands as an excellent synthesis overall. … This well-researched account of Ethiopian diplomatic activity constitutes an important work which well serves not only historians, art historians, and philologists interested in Solomonid Ethiopia, but also non-Ethiopianists interested in a ‘global’ approach to the Middle Ages, and in particular those who might be interested in comparative studies of Christian monarchical ideology.” (Felege-Selam Solomon Yirga, The Catholic Historical Review, Vol. 109 (4), 2023)

“The monograph seeks as a whole to offer a balanced portrayal of Ethiopian – European diplomatic missions at a time when the ties between the Horn of Africa and Europe were increasing. ... In this Krebs has succeeded, and one can well imagine that her book will become a standard reference point on this important chapter in the history of Ethiopian and European relations.” (Philip Michael Forness, Journal of Eastern Christian Studies, Vol. 75 (3-4), 2023)

“This extremely well written book will be the point of reference on this subject. It provides sagacious treatment of the many documents that can be brought to bear on the exchanges, and it places Ethiopia’s part in a new frame of reference.” (Andrew Kurt, Speculum, Vol. 97 (4), October, 2022)

“This is a remarkable and fascinating book that opens up entirely new vistas on the cultural and political history of the fifteenth-century Mediterranean. To someone who is not an expert in Ethiopian history, the book conveys a great sense of authority; it is backed up by a formidable array of footnotes.” (David Abulafia, Al-Masāq, March 28, 2022)

“Krebs has produced an impressive survey of Ethiopian-European relations and her volume will cer­tainly find a place in the library of … Ethiopianists. To be sure, in light of Krebs’s masterful discussion of relics and material culture, readers will certainly look forward to her announced second monograph … .” (Matteo Salvadore, Orientalistische Literaturzeitung, Vol. 116 (4), 2021)

“In this meticulously researched and highly original book, Krebs conjures up an immensely wide world as she follows the visits of Ethiopian pilgrims and ambassadors to late medieval Europe. She also opens a window onto the politics and culture of that proud highland kingdom. This is a model study that will change our vision of Europe’s encounter with the non-European world at the dawn of the Renaissance.” (Peter Brown, Emeritus Professor of History, Princeton University, USA) 

“An outstanding contribution to our understanding of Ethiopia’s early relations with Europe. Rich, well-documented and highly convincing.” (Michael Gervers, University of Toronto, Canada)

“Combining meticulous research and a thorough synthesis of the sources, this book offers a fresh look at the diplomatic history of Christian Ethiopia and Latin Europe between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. A fascinating study that will undoubtedly be an invaluable resource for those who seek to research and teach the history of Ethiopia.” (Solomon Gebreyes, University of Hamburg, Germany)

Verena Krebs is Professor for Medieval Cultural Realms and their Entanglements at the Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, where she also co-directs the Bochum Centre for Mediterranean Studies. She holds a bi-national PhD from the universities of Konstanz, Germany, and Mekelle, Ethiopia; her primary research focus is on the late medieval Solomonic Kingdom of Ethiopia and its connections to the wider Mediterranean region.