Queen Helena of Ethiopia
Empress of Ethiopia and wife of Zara Yaqob and later Queen regent for a young Lebna Dengel, Queen Helena (Eleni) played a significant role in the Ethiopian government as a trusted advisor.
Queen Elena is the reputed author of a 1509 letter written to King Manoel of Portugal purportedly from the kingdom of Prester John. Among other things, this letter mentions the envoys dispatched by Afonso de Albuquerque who must have arrived at the Ethiopian court prior to the writing of the letter.
Written on by Portuguese historians and adventures such as Baltazar Téllez and Francisco Álvares, Helena died in 1522.
Queen Elena is the reputed author of a 1509 letter written to King Manoel of Portugal purportedly from the kingdom of Prester John. Among other things, this letter mentions the envoys dispatched by Afonso de Albuquerque who must have arrived at the Ethiopian court prior to the writing of the letter.
Written on by Portuguese historians and adventures such as Baltazar Téllez and Francisco Álvares, Helena died in 1522.
