Pedro IV Nusamu a Mvemba.
King of Kongo, ruled from 1695 to 1718, although his effective reign of Kongo was only from 1709. He is noted for restoring the country and ending the civil war that had raged since 1666. The career of
Beatriz Kimpa Vita, the prophetess claimed to be possessed by
Saint Anthony, took place during his reign.
Early life
Very little is known of Pedro's early life, although he was the founder of the House of
Água Rosada which was a lineage founded from the two rival lineages of the late 17th century, the
Kimpanzu
The Kimpanzu were members of the Mpanzu kanda also known as the House of Kimpanzu, one of the lineages from which the kings of Kongo were chosen during the 17th century and following Kongo's reunification under Pedro IV. They are remembered in ...
and the
Kinlaza
The Kinlaza were members of the Nlaza kanda or House of Kinlaza, one of the ruling houses of the Kingdom of Kongo during the 17th century. It was one of the main factions during the Kongo Civil War along with the Kimpanzu and Kinkanga a Mvika ka ...
. He began his career among royal refugees who had taken shelter in the mountain of Kibangu, in the
Serra do Canda
Serra (Latin for "saw") may refer to:
People
* Serra (footballer) (born 1961), Portuguese footballer
* Serra (surname)
* Serra (given name)
Cities, towns, municipalities Brazil
*Serra, Espírito Santo, a city in the Greater Vitória area
* Am ...
of modern-day
Angola
, national_anthem = " Angola Avante"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordina ...
. He claimed the throne upon the death of his brother, but as he was not crowned in
São Salvador, he was not considered fully legitimate.
Reign
He was also a partner in several attempts to organize a peaceful settlement to the succession crisis in Kongo brokered by the old Queen
Ana Afonso de Leão with the special cooperation of the
Capuchin missionary
Francesco da Pavia
Francesco, the Italian (and original) version of the personal name "Francis", is the most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name include:
People with the given name Francesco
* Francesco I (disambiguation), sever ...
. The concerts did not result in success however as bad blood remained among all the contenders.
Popular discontent with the king rose in the early eighteenth century, for many felt he had not done enough to restore the kingdom by reoccupying the capital, and to this end Pedro led an armed column from Kibangu to São Salvador in 1694 and was crowned there by a priest. But he was threatened immediately by his principal rival,
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 ...
of
Lemba Lemba may refer to:
* ''Lemba'' (grasshopper), a genus of insect in the subfamily Caryandinae
* Lemba people, an African ethnic group in Southern Africa
;Places
* Lemba, Kinshasa, a commune in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
* Lembá ...
, who also claimed to be king, and withdrew immediately. He would remain in the mountain for many more years. After 1700, Pedro sought to reoccupy the ancient capital by sending out groups of colonists, one set led by Manuel Cruz Barbosa, his majordomo, and the other by
Pedro Constaninho da Silva
Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for '' Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter.
The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning ...
(known also as Kibenga), a one-time rival who had temporarily joined forces with him. Pedro himself moved down from
Kibangu to a smaller mountain,
Evululu, nearer to the capital.
The Antonian Movement
There were millennial stirrings among the colonists that had been sent out to resettle the capital. Several prophets emerged, but the final prophet,
Beatriz Kimpa Vita, began immensely popular. Claiming to be possessed by Saint Anthony, Beatriz confronted Pedro on his lack of resolution, and he for his part wished to arrest her as a heretic, as the Capuchin priest in his service, Bernardo da Gallo, recommended. However, he did not, and Beatriz left his capital, and eventually began resettling São Salvador herself. In the process she gained the adherence of Pedro Constantinho da Silva, thus setting up a crisis between Pedro IV and his one-time subordinate.
Pedro IV captured Beatriz near his capital at Evululu, and in July 1706 had her executed. In 1709 in turn, he occupied São Salvador, defeating the final partisans of Pedro Constantinho da Silva. In the same year he won a signal victory over João II, thus securing himself the position as king.
According to later accounts, before his death in 1718, Pedro declared that the kingship in Kongo should rotate between the rival lineages.
Further reading
*
*
*
{{RulersOfKongoKingdom
Manikongo of Kongo
1718 deaths