In 1270, Yekuno Amlak, an Amhara noble from the region south of the Zagwe heartland, displaced the last Zagwe ruler and proclaimed himself king. The dynasty he founded became known as the Solomonic dynasty. Its name expressed the claim that Ethiopia’s rulers descended from King Solomon of ancient Israel.

Royal tradition traced the Aksumite line to a union between Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. This genealogy made descent a source of political legitimacy and allowed Yekuno Amlak’s accession to be presented as the restoration of a rightful monarchy. The Tigray and Amhara peoples rejected the Zagwe’s claim to this heritage and viewed their rule as an illegitimate seizure of power.

Yekuno Amlak established Amhara as the geographical and political center of the Christian kingdom. He consolidated control over the northern highlands and attacked the surrounding Muslim and “pagan” states, achieving notable success against Ifat. After his death in 1285, dynastic conflict led to a new system in 1300 in which male descendants outside the reigning emperor’s immediate family were confined in a remote mountaintop prison.

The monarchy’s authority was theoretically nearly unlimited, but practical control depended on the emperor’s relationship with provincial governors. Governors retained local bases of support so long as they paid tribute and supplied soldiers. Repeated succession disputes and the growing independence of regional leaders eventually weakened the Christian kingdom, especially by the mid-seventeenth century.