Emperor Susenyos I of Ethiopia and Patriarch Afonso Mendes declare the primacy of the Roman See over the Ethiopian Church, and Catholicism to be the state religion of Ethiopia.
Father Afonso Mendes (18 June 1579 21 June 1659), was a Portuguese Jesuit theologian, and Patriarch of Ethiopia from 1622 to 1634. While E.A. Wallis Budge has expressed the commonly accepted opinion of this man, as being "rigid, uncompromising, narrow-minded, and intolerant", there are some who disagree with it. The writings of Mendes include Expeditionis Aethiopicae, which describes the customs and conditions of Ethiopia.
Susenyos I (Ge'ez: ሱስንዮስ Sūsinyōs; 1572 – 17 September 1632), also known by throne name Malak Sagad III, was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1606 to 1632, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty.
He was the son of Abeto Fasil, as well as the grandson of Abeto Yakob and the great-grandson of Dawit II. As a result, while some authorities list Susenyos as a member of the Solomonic dynasty, others consider him—rather than his son, Fasilides—as the founder of the Gondar line of the dynasty (which is, however, ultimately a subset of the Solomonic dynasty).
Susenyos I was raised by a Borana clan through gudifacha (or adoption). His fellow Oromo Luba age-group generals were instrumental in his coming to power.Manuel de Almeida, a Portuguese Jesuit who lived in Ethiopia during Susenyos' reign, described the emperor as tall with the features of a man of quality, large handsome eyes, "and an ample and well groomed beard." He wore "a tunic of crimson velvet down to the knee, breeches of the Moorish style, a sash or girdle of many large pieces of fine gold, and an outer coat of damask of the same colour, like a capelhar."