Wedem Arad

Wedem Arad (died 1314), a son of Yekuno Amlak and brother of Yagbe'u Seyon, seized the Ethiopian throne from his nephews around 1299. In his first year he foiled a jihad proclaimed by the sheikh Abu-Abdallah: his agents won over most of the rebel's followers, forcing him to make peace.

In 1306 he sent thirty envoys to Europe seeking an anti-Muslim alliance; they visited Rome, Avignon and Genoa. At Genoa a geographer interviewed them, and a later summary of his lost account first linked Ethiopia with the legend of Prester John.