Kongo King Baptized: Portuguese Missionaries Convert a Monarch
The monarch took a new name, João, and ordered his entire court to follow him into baptism. Nkuwu Nzinga of Kongo wasn't conquered—he invited the Portuguese priests in, hoping their god might bring the same power their ships and cannons displayed. Within two years, he'd renounced Christianity entirely, exhausted by missionary demands that he abandon his other wives. But his son Afonso stayed converted. That choice split the kingdom for generations, creating Africa's first major Christian state while opening the door Portuguese slavers would walk through for the next four centuries.
May 3, 1491
535 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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élection du pape Grégoire V.
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