Frumentius
Bishop of Aksum
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Biography
Saint Frumentius (Ge'ez: ፍሬምናጦስ frēmnāṭōs. Born in the city of Tyre, Eastern Roman Empire, in the early 4th century, died circa 383 AD, Kingdom of Axum) was the first Bishop of Aksum (or Axum), and is credited with bringing Christianity to the Aksumite Kingdom.
He was ethnically a Syro-Phoenician Greek born in Tyre. As a boy, he was captured with his brother, and they became slaves to the King of Axum. He freed them shortly before his death, and they were invited to educate his young heir. They also began to teach Christianity in the region. Later, Frumentius traveled to Alexandria, Egypt, where he appealed to have a bishop appointed and missionary priests sent south to Axum. Thereafter, he was appointed bishop and established the Church in Ethiopia, converting many indigenous people, as well as the king.
Biography
According to the 4th-century historian Rufinus (x.9), who cites Frumentius' brother Edesius as his authority, as children (ca. 316) Frumentius and Edesius accompanied their uncle Meropius from their birthplace of Tyre (in present-day Lebanon) on a voyage to Ethiopia. When their ship stopped at one of the harbors of the Red Sea, local people massacred the whole crew, sparing the two boys, who were taken as slaves to the King of Axum. The two boys soon gained the favour of the king, who raised them to positions of trust. Shortly before his death, the king freed them. The widowed queen, however, prevailed upon them to remain at the court and assist her in the education of the young heir, Ezana, and in the administration of the kingdom during the prince's minority. They remained and (especially Frumentius) used their influence to spread Christianity. First they encouraged the Christian merchants present in the country to practise their faith openly, and they helped them find places "where they could come together for prayer according to the Roman Rite"; later they converted some of the natives.
When the prince came of age, Edesius returned to Tyre, where he stayed and was ordained a priest. Frumentius, eager for the conversion of Ethiopia, accompanied his brother as far as Alexandria, where he requested Athanasius, Patriarch of Alexandria, to send a bishop and some priests as missionaries to Ethiopia. By Athanasius' own account, he believed Frumentius to be the most suitable person for the job and consecrated him as bishop, traditionally in the year 328, or according to others, between 340-346.
Frumentius returned to Ethiopia, where he erected his episcopal see at Axum, then converted and baptized King Ezana, who built many churches and spread Christianity throughout Ethiopia. The people called Frumentius Kesate Birhan (Revealer of Light) and Abba Salama (Father of Peace). He became the first Abune—a title given to the head of the Ethiopian Church.
In about 356, the Emperor Constantius II wrote to King Ezana and his brother Saizanas, requesting them to replace Frumentius as bishop with Theophilus, who supported the Arian position, as did the emperor. Frumentius had been appointed by Athanasius, a leading opponent of Arianism. The king refused the request.
The Coptic Orthodox Church celebrates the feast of Frumentius on December 18, the Eastern Orthodox on November 30, and the Roman Catholic on October 27. Saint Frumentius is venerated on August 1 in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. Ethiopian traditions credit him with the first Ge'ez translation of the New Testament, and being involved in the development of Ge'ez script from an abjad (consonantal-only) into an abugida (syllabic).