No Crusade threads for a while, so....

WI a Zagwe Negua Nagast did a Crusade/Pilgramage?
Lots of Kings went on Crusading pilgramages during the Crusading era, starting with Sigurd of Norway in about 1106-1110, even John and Manuel Komnenos made appearences in the area.

WI one of the new (1137) Zagwe dynasty Negusa Nagast of Ethiopia made a pilgramage, at the head of a armed host, to the holy land during this period? Presumably the Negua Nagast could travel up the Red Sea to the head of the Gulf of Aquaba where the Crusaders had an outpost, and gone on from there.
 
It's intriguing to speculate if they might've made it to Egypt to back up the Fifth Crusade in 1221. The Zagwes were interested in Jerusalem (probably for religious reasons more than economic reasons; the Zagwe were mostly limited tradewise to Egypt, unlike the Axumites) and Lalibela built his famous churches to create a sort of "New Jerusalem" in Ethiopia.

One cool thing is that the Ethiopian emperors had elephants. I desperately want a timeline where an "Ethiopian Hannibal" manages to march a few of them to Egypt. I can't find anything on the population density of Ethiopia at the time, so its hard to estimate how big an army could actually have been raised, or how much of an impact they might've had on the Crusade.

Sources:
Owens, Travis. Beleaguered Muslim Fortresses and Ethiopian Imperial Expansion from the 13th to the 16th Century, 2008.
Negash, Tekeste. The Zagwe period re-interpreted: post-Aksumite Ethiopian urban culture.
 
I'd prefer it to happen before Hattin so the Ethiopians could strengthen Outremer with their crusade. Or perhaps as a follow up to the 3rd Crusade.

Elephants would be cool, but I don't know if the lands were lush enough to support them.
 
I wouldn't count on it.

I don't know enough about Ethiopia to comment on this, but I want to state my interest in the concept.
 
From what little I know, Ethiopea was fairly isolationist at that point, having little to do with Europe or the Middle East. Maybe if a vibrant, ambitious King of Kings took the throne, and conquered Egypt, giving the Christian powers control of the Mediteranian's breadbasket. With Egypt as a Christian stronghold, naval power and strong supply lines to Outreemer, I can imagine the Crusader states could have prospered for a great deal longer.

(Bear in mind my only real knowledge of Ethiopea comes from reading the Belisarius series ... how much Drake and Flint made up I don't know. But if the above scenario worked ... it would be really cool.:cool:)
 
The biggest worry would be that in his absence someone else seizes power, especially if they don't have much in the way of maritime trade of their own when they would be relying on rumour and third-hand news of what is going on in the North

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
I'd liken an Ethiopian pilgrimage to Jerusalem to be a bit like a Byzantine one, the proximity to the homeland and sea communications means he could do the trip in a single season if need be and be in quite close contact with his homeland. I doubt such a pilgrimage would be in response to an event in the holy land like the 2nd and 3rd crusades, they'd be more like Sigurd and Johny K's tours, undertaken because he can spare the time and wants to do something good.
 
"Egypt is in Ethiopian hands" does not turn Egypt into a friendly power to the crusaders.

Byzantium was Christian, its relationship with the Crusader states wasn't unambiguously positive.

Why would this make it so?

Riain: Wonder how well that would work. I mean, moving any substantial force would take a pretty good sized fleet.

Might be interesting to see how the Muslims deal with such a fleet in the Red Sea even if the tour itself has limited consequences.
 
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