Document – Excerpt from The Fetha Nagast (ca. 1450)

Abstract and Keywords

In the medieval period Ethiopia became a multiethnic, multilingual, and multireligious state in which the kings limited the church’s conversion efforts. Nevertheless, the kings continued to emphasize their Christian identity, and this factor is reflected in their adoption and endorsement of the Fetha Nagast, or Law of the Kings, in the mid-fifteenth century. This legal code had originally been written in Arabic by a Coptic Christian in Egypt, probably in the mid-thirteenth century. While living under Muslim rule, the Copts were allowed to adopt portions of Justinian’s law code and the resolutions of church councils for their own governance. Translated from Greek, and with many Biblical passages added, the code connected Egyptian Christians to their Byzantine, Roman, and Judeo-Christian heritage, founding the basis of law squarely in that tradition. The Ethiopian monarchs had the Arabic source translated into Ge’ez (the state language of Ethiopia at the time), and the translator added a section on kingship, a portion of which is offered below. The Law of the Kings remained the law in Ethiopia until 1930, when Emperor Haile Selassie I issued the country’s first modern constitution.

Excerpt from The Fetha Nagast, trans. Paulos Tzadua, ed. Peter L. Strauss (Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2009), 271–273.

Document

CHAPTER XLIV

KINGS

Section I.

TH. The king you appoint must be one of your brethren. It is not proper for you to appoint over yourself an alien and an infidel, lest he multiply horses, women, gold and silver [to himself]. And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, some priests shall write for him the Divine Book, so that he may keep it by his side and read it throughout his life, in order to learn the fear of God, his Creator, to observe his commandments, and to practice them, lest his heart become proud [and feel contempt] for his brethren. He must never swerve either to the right or to the left from what has been laid down in the Law, so that his days and his sons’ days may be prolonged in his kingdom [Deuteronomy 17:15f], and his faith in God may be perfect. EB 9. Because of faith the walls of Jericho were pulled down, when the sons of Israel marched around them for seven days. Because of faith, Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephtha and David defeated the kings, served the cause of justice, found what they hoped for, were victors in war, and defeated the army of the enemy [Hebrews 11:30, 32f]. RSTA 54. And if the king becomes a heretic, from that moment he is no longer a king, but a rebel.

Section II.

Our Lord said in the Gospel: “Give to the king what is the king’s and to God what is God’s [Matthew 22:21].” And Apostle Paul said in his letter to the Romans: “Every one of you must be submissive to the authority of your ruler, since a ruler is appointed only by God. And God has appointed all these rulers. . . .” [Romans 13:1f]

St. John Chrysostom, in his explanation of this passage, has said: “The Apostle had already shown [this] in his other letters, commanding the [lesser] chiefs to give due obedience to the higher chiefs, as the servant must obey the master. This the Apostle did, showing that Our Lord did not abrogate all the laws by His precepts, but confirmed them. And his saying: “Every soul” is because every man must conform himself to this; and his saying: “A ruler is appointed only by God,” means that God has provided for the appointment of judges and rulers to take place, so that the world may become beautifully calm. And for that reason He has established the ruler, since equality of forces causes many wars. And God in His wisdom has established many kinds of authority, such as that of a man in respect to woman, the father in respect to the son, the old in respect to the young, the master in respect to the slave, the teacher in respect to the disciple, and, more so, the chief in respect to the one who is placed under him. The Lord acted in the same manner with the body, [creating] the head and placing the other parts under it; he also did thus with other animals, such as bees, razai, ants, antelopes, eagles, buffaloes, and all kinds of fish—every one has its chief, and when there is no authority there is confusion and lack of order. And his words: “Since he is God’s minister calling thee to good and beautiful things,” mean that he will lead you daily in your obedience to God. His punishments will be directed against those who rebel against God, murderers, fornicators, thieves, and wrong-doers; but his favors go to the obedient, who obey the Highest—Whose name be praised!—to those who despite the world and to those who do works of perfection and are righteous.

…

Section III.

MAK 37. Let the king give honor to the order of the clergy, as Constantine, elected, faithful, and righteous king, and those who were after him did. Let him give from his wealth to each of them, according to their rank. First of all he shall give to the bishops, then to the priests, next, to the deacons, and then to those who are below them. He shall exempt them from tribute, presents, and the other things to be given to the rulers. Let him assign something to the churches for the maintenance of widows, orphans, and the poor, so that they may entreat God to strengthen the true faith with belief in the Holy Trinity, so that the day of the Christians’ king may be long.

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Section IV.

The king shall judge with equity in the middle of his people. He shall not be partial, either toward himself or toward the others, toward his son, his relatives, his friends, or the alien in any way which brings about injustice. And it is written in reference to kings: “The honored king loves justice, but the unjust king loves evil and injustice, to the ruin of his soul.” And Solomon the wise has said: “To increase justice and save the oppressed is better than the offering and sacrifices” [Proverbs 21:3]

Do not take the wealth of anyone by violence; do not buy from him by force, either openly or by trick, in order not to be afflicted by God in this world and in the future. In this world, as befell the King Ahab and his wife Jezebel, when Naboth refused to sell him his vineyard and Jezebel schemed to kill him and took the vineyard; God smote Ahab and made his race perish; and next to him he smote Jezebel, and the dogs ate her in the aforesaid vineyard [2 Kings 21]. As for the future world, the Apostle said: “Wrong-doers and apostates shall not inherit God’s Kingdom” [1 Corinthians 6:9]

Notes

Review

  1. 1. How does the author of this portion of the Fetha Nagast use biblical passages and historical comparisons to accentuate his points? Why?

  2. 2. What is the king’s primary obligation to his people? Under what conditions could he lose his power?

Notes:

(i) A type of bird

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