Ana Afonso de Leão (1625 - 1710) was the queen regnant of the Kingdom of Nkondo between 1673 and 1710. She conquered the territories of Lemba and Matari, as well as those located along the Mbidizi river in the

Kingdom of Kongo The Kingdom of Kongo ( kg, Kongo dya Ntotila or ''Wene wa Kongo;'' pt, Reino do Congo) was a kingdom located in central Africa in present-day northern Angola, the western portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Republic of the ...

(in the regions of present-day

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

and the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

) in the 17th century. She was a decisive figure during the Kongolese civil war.

Early life

Born around 1625, Ana Afonso de Leão was a sister of king Garcia II Afonso, and the wife of the ephemeral sovereign

Afonso II of Kongo and Nkondo Afonso II of Kongo and Nkondo was a ruler of the kingdom of Kongo in the period following the Kongo Civil War. He was a member of the House of Kimpanzu and may have been supported in his claim for the throne by partisans in Soyo. He took the thron ...

Queen of Nkondo

During the civil war between the Kanda Kinlaza and Kimpanzu which ravaged the Kingdom of Kongo between 1665 and 1709, Ana Afonso de Leão established a quasi-independent regional principality which included the marquises of Nkondo and Mpemba and the Duchy of Mbamba. The territories that it controlled between 1682 and 1714 are called "The Land of the Queen". Widowed since 1669, she had retired to Nkondo, between

Ambriz Ambriz is a village and municipality in Bengo Province, Angola. It is located 127 km from the town of Caxito. It borders the municipality of N'zeto, Zaire Province, to the north and the municipality of Dande to the south. Demographics The po ...

and Nkusu where she was considered the

matriarch Matriarchy is a social system in which women hold the primary power positions in roles of authority. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege and control of property. While those definitions apply in general E ...

of the House of Kinlaza, when she undertook to fight the king

Manuel I Manuel I may refer to: *Manuel I Komnenos, Byzantine emperor (1143–1180) *Manuel I of Trebizond, Emperor of Trebizond (1228–1263) *Manuel I of Portugal Manuel I (; 31 May 146913 December 1521), known as the Fortunate ( pt, O Venturoso), was ...

between 1682 and 1693. At the end of 1691, Manuel I and his allies of Soyo invaded Nkondo and drove out Queen Ana Afonso de Leão. Pedro Valle de Lagrimas, the Duke of Mbamba and cousin of the queen, came to her aid, but he was defeated in May 1692. After the elimination of Manuel, two of the queen's nephews, Alexis Afonso, the new Duke of Mbamba and Pedro Constantino de Silva, Marquis of Wembo, hatched a plot against her in order to oust him. She fled and settled in various places, including Ngandu. In September 1696, two of his captains, D. Antonio Afonso Mpanzu in Kivasi and D. Garcia Makunga, battled with Pedro Constantino, and retook Nkondo, the former residence of the queen. Due to her royal ancestry, Dona Ana's authority was great and she actively participated in negotiations to restore the unity of the kingdom. In 1696, there were two main competitors: Pedro IV Água Rosada, king in Kibangu, and

João II John II ( pt, João II; ; 3 March 1455 – 25 October 1495), called the Perfect Prince ( pt, o Príncipe Perfeito, link=no), was King of Portugal from 1481 until his death in 1495, and also for a brief time in 1477. He is known for re-establish ...

who reigned in Lemba-Bula. Queen Ana's preferences went to her relative João II and in March 1696, she sent Father Luke de Caltanissetta as ambassador to Lemba.Italian Capuchin Missionary. He arrived in Luanda in 1690, lived in Soyo and then traveled through the kingdom of Kongo. In October 1701, he was appointed Prefect of the Mission and died in Luanda in November 1702 King João II refused to accept the conditions considered essential to ensure a final peace: the restitution of Kiowa kia Nza, which he had taken from the count of

Soyo Soyo (formerly known as ''Santo António do Zaire'') is a city, with a population of 200,920 (2014 census), and a municipality, with a population of 227,175 (2014 census), located in the province of Zaire in Angola, at the mouth of the Congo riv ...

, and the occupation of the ancient capital São Salvador. Queen Dona Ana then supported the candidacy of another of her parents from Kanda Kinlaza, D. António de Leão Mapnzu Kinvangi, son of the ephemeral king

Álvaro VII of Kongo Álvaro VII (Mpanzu-a-Mabondo) was king of the Kingdom of Congo from 1665 to 1666. When the death of Antonio I at the Battle of Mbwila (October 29, 1665) was announced, a relative of the dead sovereign, Álvaro, was proclaimed king. The new king ...

at the insistence of Father François de Pavie, another Italian Capuchin missionary. He made his first stay in Luanda between 1680 and 1688. Back in Europe, he was appointed Prefect of the Mission in 1693. He then traveled the kingdom, striving to promote the election of a single king. He failed and returned to Europe in 1702. She finally declared herself favorable to the king of Kibangu, Pedro IV, a member of the Kinlaza clan (Nlaza Kanda) through his father. Thanks to his authority, the principal leaders of the country swore loyalty to this king, who was crowned in São Salvador on 2 August 1696; however the ambitions of some potentates stood in the way of its restoration which only took place in 1709. The date of Dona Ana's death is unknown but believed to be 1710, because the queen was still living in 1707, when

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

Clement XI Pope Clement XI ( la, Clemens XI; it, Clemente XI; 23 July 1649 – 19 March 1721), born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 November 1700 to his death in March 1721. Clement XI w ...

sent her a letter dated that year.

Family

Besides her nephews Alexis Afonso, Pedro Constantinho da Siva, and the latter's half-brother, the future king

Manuel II of Kongo Manuel II or Manuel II Mpanzu a Nimi (???-1743) was ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo (1718–1743). He ruled in a period of "rotating lineages" as planned by his predecessor and was of the Kimpanzu. He had once fought against Pedro during the recapture ...

, her relatives also included her son-in-law D. Daniel Marquis de Mpemba, her other nephew D. Alvaro, duke of Mbata, whom she tried to impose as king in Nkondo between 1700 and 1707, and her niece Dona Catarina, whose daughter Dona Ana ruled the duchy of

Owando Owando is a town in the central Republic of the Congo, lying on the Kouyou River. It is the capital of Cuvette Department and an autonomous commune. It is home to a market and has an airport. It was formerly known as Fort-Rousset. It gained the ...

after the death of her husband D. Clemente.

References

{{Reflist

Sources

* Fernando Campos « O rei D. Pedro IV Ne Nsamu a Mbemba. A unidade do Congo », dans ''Africa. Revista do centro de Estudos Africanos'', USP S. Paulo 18-19 (1) 1995/1996 p. 159-199 & USP S. Paulo 20-21 1997/1998 p. 305-375. * John K. Thornton '' Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power'' dans « The Journal of African History » publié par

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

. Vol. 47, No. 3 (2006), p. 437-460 Manikongo of Kongo 1625 births 1710 deaths 17th-century women rulers 18th-century women rulers