*Glossed & Found: The Abyssinian Wildcard in a War for the World

Where The Past Gets Footnoted For The Future. Rerouted's explainer-in-chief for any background details you might have missed while you dozed off in Mr. McHugh's World History Class.

A dramatic aerial view of the Blue Nile at its source, curling like a serpent below a mountain monastery. On a rocky ledge, an Ethiopian priest in crimson robes raises a hand over the water. Behind him: a Jesuit cartographer sketches the flow. The river glows unnaturally blue, almost divine.

What’s The Deal

While the Ottomans and Portuguese clashed over spice routes, straits, and sacred seas from Hormuz to Hormuzan, Christian Ethiopia emerged as an unlikely—but crucial—counterweight. The Solomonic Dynasty stood alone in East Africa, surrounded by Muslim powers and targeted by the Ottoman-backed Imam Ahmad al-Ghazi, a militant reformer who nearly toppled the kingdom. Enter: Portuguese crusaders and Jesuit engineers. What began as a spiritual alliance turned into a geopolitical realignment.

What Actually Happened