Dawit II Wanag Seggad |
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Emperor of Ethiopia | |||||
Contemporary portrait of Lebna Dengel by Cristofano dell'Altissimo
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Emperor of Ethiopia | |||||
Reign | 13 August 1507 – 2 September 1540 | ||||
Coronation | 13 May 1508 | ||||
Predecessor | Na'od | ||||
Successor | Gelawdewos | ||||
Regent | Empress Eleni | ||||
Born | c. 1496 Dabra Damo, Tigray |
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Died | 2 September 1540 (aged 38-39) |
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Burial | Abba Aragwi Monastery, Dabra Damo | ||||
Issue | Fiqtor Lebna Dengal Emperor Gelawdewos Yakob Emperor Menas Walatta Hanna Amata Giyorgis Sabana Giyorgis Walatta Kidusan Tewdada Sabla Wangel |
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Dynasty | Solomonic dynasty | ||||
Father | Na'od | ||||
Mother | Empress Na'od Mogasa |
Full name | |
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Egardos (birth name) Lebna Dengel (baptismal name) Wanag Seggad (nickname) |
Dawit II (Ge'ez: ዳዊት? dāwīt), also known as Wanag Segad (wanag sagad, 'to whom lions bow'), better known by his birth name Lebna Dengel (ልብነ ድንግል Ləbnä Dəngəl; 1501 – September 2, 1540), was nəgusä nägäst (1508–1540) of the Ethiopian Empire. A member of the Solomonic dynasty, he was the son of Emperor Na'od and Queen Na'od Mogasa. The important victory over Adal leader Mahfuz may have given Dawit the appellation Wanag Segad, which is a combination of Ge'ez and Harari terms.
Although she was well into her seventies, the Empress Mother Eleni stepped in to act as her step-great-grandson's regent until 1516, when he came of age. During this time, she was aware that the neighboring Muslim states were benefitting from the assistance of other, larger Muslim countries like the Ottoman Empire. Eleni sought to neutralize this advantage by dispatching the Armenian Mateus to Portugal to ask for assistance. However, the Portuguese response did not arrive in Ethiopia until much later, when an embassy led by Dom Rodrigo de Lima arrived at Massawa on April 9, 1520. Transversing the Ethiopian highlands, they did not reach Dawit's camp until October 19 of that year. Francisco Álvares provides us a description of the Emperor: