[3][4] According to Richard Pankhurst, Kedus Harbe tried to break the hold of Egyptian Coptic influence on the Ethiopian Church by increasing the number of bishops ordained in his country to seven.
The ruler was first sympathetic to the request, but the prelate warned him that with that many bishops they could appoint their own Archbishop and be free to develop "enmity and hostility" towards their Muslim neighbors.
[4][6] However, another version moved Yemrehana Krestos further down the succession order and as a result Kedus Harbe is placed after Germa Seyum.
[4][7] The "longer" Zagwe king list contains sixteen names and states he reigned for 40 years after Yemrehana Kristos.
Working backwards from the year 1270, when the Zagwe dynasty was deposed, the so-called "longer" king list would date Kedus Harbe's reign to c.