During the heavy-handed reign of Zar‘a Ya’qob, there was a monastic movement that originated in Ethiopia named after their founder, Stepha. These ascetic Ethiopians—Stephanites—challenged the heightened authority of the Ethiopian king in church affairs, the veneration of Mary, and the elevation of any church documents in addition to Scripture.104 Therefore, over a century before Martin Luther nailed up the Ninety-Five Theses in Wittenberg, Ethiopia was experiencing its own Reformation that addressed