Nzinga-a-Nkuwu João I (né Nzinga-a-Nkuwu), was the 5th ManiKongo of the Kingdom of Kongo (Kongo-dia-Ntotila in Kikongo language) between 1470 and 1509. He voluntarily converted to Roman Catholicism. He was

baptized Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost i ...

on 3 May 1491 and took the Christian name of ''João''. Soon after, ManiKongo Nzinga-a-Nkuwu João I abandoned the new faith for a number of reasons, one of them being the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

requirement of

monogamy Monogamy ( ) is a form of dyadic relationship in which an individual has only one partner during their lifetime. Alternately, only one partner at any one time ( serial monogamy) — as compared to the various forms of non-monogamy (e.g., pol ...

. Politically, the king could not afford to abandon

polygamy Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is marr ...

and embrace monogamy, a cultural shift that the king could not contemplate as power in Kongo was elective, rather than hereditary as in Europe. Kongo culture followed a

matrilineality Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline – their mother's lineage – and which can involve the inheritance ...

structure, where the elder son of the king is not automatically the next king.

Early reign

King Nzinga-a-Nkuwu was the fifth ruler of Kongo. He was married to Queen Nzinga a Nlaza, a first cousin.Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page 442. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006. She had a son by the king named

Nzinga Mbemba Mvemba a Nzinga, Nzinga Mbemba, Funsu Nzinga Mvemba or Dom Alfonso. (c. 1456–1542 or 1543), also known as King Afonso I, was the sixth ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo from the Lukeni kanda dynasty and ruled in the first half of the 16th century ...

. She would later help him become king of Kongo after her husband's death. Under the reign of Nzinga a Nkuwu, Kongo had grown to 100,000 square kilometers and contained a very centralized government.

Arrival of the Portuguese

In 1483, a Portuguese

caravel The caravel (Portuguese: , ) is a small maneuverable sailing ship used in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean. The lateen sails gave it speed and the capacity for sailing w ...

captained by

Diogo Cão Diogo Cão (; -1486), anglicised as Diogo Cam and also known as Diego Cam, was a Portuguese explorer and one of the most notable navigators of the Age of Discovery. He made two voyages sailing along the west coast of Africa in the 1480s, explori ...

reached the estuary of the

Congo River The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharg ...

and made contact with subjects of the king. Cão sailed back to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

carrying a party of Kongo emissaries. On arrival in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

, the emissaries were baptized and placed in a monastery before returning to the king in 1491.Oliver, Roland and Anthony Atmore: "Medieval Africa, 1250–1800", page 169. Cambridge University Press, 2001. Along with the emissaries came Portuguese priests, masons, carpenters and soldiers plus European goods. The ships anchored at

Mpinda 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 after a brief halt to baptise the governor of Soyo, uncle to the

manikongo The Manikongo, or Mwene Kongo, was the title of the ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo, a kingdom that existed from the 14th to the 19th centuries and consisted of land in present-day Angola, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republ ...

, the procession went on to the capital where they were greeted by the king and five of his leading nobles.

Baptisms and later relations

On 3 May 1491, the king of Kongo was baptised along with his family.Oliver, Roland and Anthony Atmore: "Medieval Africa, 1250–1800", page 170. Cambridge University Press, 2001. Initially, only the king and his nobles were to be converted, but the queen demanded to be baptised. Kongo's royal family took the names of their Portuguese counterparts, thus João, Leonor (or Leanor in some instances) and Afonso.Hilton, Anne: "Family and Kinship among the Kongo South of the Zaire River from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries", page 197. The Journal of African History, Vol. 24, No. 2, 1983. A thousand subjects were detailed to help the Portuguese carpenters build a church, meanwhile, the Portuguese soldiers accompanied the king in a campaign to defend the province of Nsundi from

Bateke The Teke people or Bateke, also known as the Tyo or Tio, are a Bantu Central African ethnic group that speak the Teke languages and that mainly inhabit the south, north, and center of the Republic of the Congo, the west of the Democratic Republi ...

raiders. The European firearms were decisive in the victory and many captives were taken.

Later life

Most of the Portuguese later departed with

slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

and

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals i ...

while leaving behind priests and craftsmen. After this cultural honeymoon, the king's profession of the Catholic faith proved short-lived. He died in 1509. He was succeeded by his son

Afonso I Afonso I of PortugalOr also ''Affonso'' (Archaic Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonso'' (Portuguese-Galician languages, Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonsus'' (Latin version), sometimes rendered in English as ''Alphonzo'' or ''Alphonse'', dependi ...

via the Queen Nzinga a Nlaza.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joao 01 of Kongo 1470 births 1509 deaths Manikongo of Kongo Converts to Roman Catholicism from pagan religions Kongolese royalty 15th-century monarchs in Africa 16th-century monarchs in Africa

Early reign

Arrival of the Portuguese

Baptisms and later relations

Later life

See also

References