Haile Melekot - Aftermath

Aftermath

In an interesting postscript, Tewodros II is said to have disbelieved that Haile Melekot was really dead and demanded that his body be disinterred. When he saw the body of the dead king, the Emperor is said to have wept for him, saying it was a shame that illness should deny a brave man such as the King of Shewa, the honor of falling in battle. He ordered that Haile Melekot be re-buried with all the pomp and ceremony due to a king.

Tewodros then turned his attention to the beautiful widow of Haile Melekot, Tidenekialesh. Recently widowed himself, the Emperor commanded her to accompany him back to Gondar. Tidenekialesh agreed to come, but asked for permission to first visit the Cathedral of St. Mary of Zion at Axum, which she had never visited, before she arrived at Gondar. Tewodros gave his permission, upon which Tidenekialesh traveled to Axum, prayed at the shrine, then promptly fled to the coast, where after much difficulty, she was able to board a ship bound for the Holy Land, where she entered the Ethiopian convent in Jerusalem, and died there several years later, as a nun. Upon learning this, Tewodros marveled at the loyalty of the widow of Haile Melekot in contrast to the betrayal of the late king's mother and grandmother.