Eleni of Ethiopia

Eleni or Helena (died April, 1522) was an Empress of Ethiopia by marriage to Zara Yaqob (r. 1434–1468). She played a significant role in the government of Ethiopia during her lifetime, acting as de facto co-regent or advisor to a number of emperors; one testimony of this is the manuscript Bruce 88, which states that she had been in the palace of three illustrious Emperors: Zara Yaqob; his son by another wife, Baeda Maryam I (r. 1468–1478), and Na'od (r. 1494–1505). She also served formally as regent during the minority of emperor Dawit II.

The daughter of the King of Hadiya, she converted to Christianity upon marrying Zara Yaqob. Although the Portuguese historian Baltazar Téllez wrote that she had no children, in some manuscripts of Francisco Álvares's The Prester John of the Indies, a male relative of Lebna Dengel who escaped from Amba Geshen is described as her son, according to the translator but not the original text

With his own mother Tsion Mogasa dead, Emperor Baeda Maryam I gave Eleni the title of Queen Mother. She proved to be an effective member of the royal family; Paul B. Henze comments that she "was practically co-monarch" during his reign. When Eskender succeeded his father Emperor Baeda Maryam I, at first Empress Eleni was pushed out of power by the Bitwoded Amda Mikael. However, around 1486 she participated in a palace coup that led to his deposition and execution, and Queen Eleni thereafter played a leading role in the Emperor's government, which continued into the reign of Emperor Na'od.

Alvarez was told by the Abuna Marqos, that upon Emperor Na'od's death in combat "he and Queen Eleni made him [Lebna Dengel] King, because they had all of the great men in their hands" This statement points to the power Eleni wielded. Likewise Eleni, understanding the increasing threat that Ethiopia faced from the growing Ottoman influence in the region, with the counsel of Pero da Covilhã sent Mateus (also known as Matthew the Armenian) as an ambassador to the King of Portugal and the Pope in Rome, a fact that the Portuguese only understood after they arrived in Ethiopia, and which complicated Dom Rodrigo da Lima's mission to the Ethiopian Emperor. Eleni served as chief regent for the under-age Lebna Dengel, along with his mother, the Dowager Empress Na'od Mogassa, and Ras Degelhan of Gojjam, the Emperor's senior male relative.

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