Newaya Krestos

Newaya Krestos, throne name Sayfa Ar'ed (sword of terror), was the eldest son of Amda Seyon I and ruled Ethiopia as Negusä Nägäst from 1344 to 1372, inheriting an empire held together largely by force and his father's unfinished quarrel with the clergy. At his accession he promised Abuna Yaqob to recall the exiled monks and live monogamously, then broke his word by marrying three women; when the clergy protested he sent the abuna back to Egypt and exiled the monks south.

He crushed Ali ibn Sabr ad-Din's revolt in Ifat and Adal, ending Ifat's independence, and imprisoned Ali and his sons except Ahmad, whom he made governor of Ifat.

He is credited with rebuilding the church of Debre Igziabher above Lake Hayq. Late in life he pressed Mamluk Egypt to free the imprisoned Patriarch Mark IV of Alexandria, jailing Egyptian merchants and, by tradition, marching toward Egypt.