Mikael Sehul had him killed. Although the details of his death are contradictory, the result was clear: for the first time an Emperor had lost his throne in a means other than his own natural death, death in battle, or voluntary abdication. Mikael Sehul had compromised the power of the Emperor, and from this point forward it lay ever more openly in the hands of the great nobles and military commanders. As Edward Ullendorff notes, It is this period, from 1769 to the beginning of Theodore's [How the british referred to Emperor Tewodros] reign in 1855, that is called by Ethiopian tradition the time of the masafent ("judges"), for it resembled very closely the era of the Old Testament judges when "there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes". Both the Empress Mentewab and his mother Wubit were devastated at the death of Iyoas. Empress Mentewab was distraught at the death of her grandson. She arranged for him to be buried at her retreat at Qusquam, and retired permanently to her palace there, refusing to return to the capital for the rest of her life. Although she lived through the next three reigns, she played a minimal role in them. References Further reading Richard K. P. Pankhurst The Ethiopian Royal Chronicles (Addis Ababa: Oxford University Press, 1967) contains a partial translation of the Chronicle of Iyoas' reign. Year of birth uncertain 1769 deaths 18th-century emperors of Ethiopia 18th-century monarchs in Africa Child monarchs from sub-Saharan Africa Solomonic dynasty Monarchs who died as children Place of birth missing