Dom Miguel de Castro, by Jasper Beck, around 1643 (National Museum of Art, Copenhagen). Ambassador of the Kingdom of Kongo, he was sent to the Netherlands to request mediation in the dispute between his cousin the Count of Soyo and King Garcia II of Kongo • WIKIMEDIA COMMONS In the year of grace 1483, Christopher Columbus had not yet discovered America, nor Vasco de Gama the way to circumvent Africa. But their predecessors, the intrepid Portuguese navigators, were already advancing along the western coasts of this continent. Under the leadership of Diogo Cão, they penetrated that year into the estuary of a river of exceptional power, and landed on the banks of a kingdom larger and more organized than anything they had encountered until then. They named it "Congo", after its ruler, the Mani Kongo. Currently, to distinguish them, we have got into the habit of writing Kongo to designate the ancient kingdom and the peoples of the region, and Congo to designate the two modern states and the river. The natives called this one Nzadi , which the Portuguese would transcribe as "Zaire". The surprise of the Kongos Diogo Cão and his men were astounded to discover a kingdom that strangely resembled theirs in size, provinces, governors, currency and trade routes. For their part, the Kongos were surprised to see the waters of intriguing albinos wielding bizarre instruments and expressing themselves in an incomprehensible way. They probably took them for these protective aquatic spirits to which they attributed the birth of albinos. When the Portuguese made it clear that they came from a "king of Portugal", seeing the sumptuous gifts that were given to them, the Kongos imagined that this sovereign was of supernatural power. The fascination was such on both sides that it led to reciprocal exchanges. Thus, Diogo Cão sent messengers laden with presents to the King of Kongo and left with some of his subjects in Portugal. Returning with Diogo Cão during his second expedition in 1485, these young Kongo nobles were able to testify to the wealth of "the other world beyond the waters", but above all, having been instructed in Portugal "in the main articles of the Holy Faith , good manners and language", they played a crucial role in King Nzinga a Nkuwu's desire to convert when they all reached the capital Mbanza Kongo after ten days of walking. The baptism of King Nzinga Three years later, these young nobles, who had already learned the rudiments of Portuguese and the Catholic religion during their first stay, left with one of the highest dignitaries of the kingdom as ambassadors to King João II of Portugal (John II) to inform him of their sovereign's desire to become a Christian. At this news, João II immediately ordered "to make Christians of them, to teach them to speak and write in Latin and to teach them the commandments of the Catholic faith". Upon their return in 1491, King Nzinga a Nkuwu was baptized after the King of Portugal, and became João I er . No source from the time explains his motivations, but one can think that, from a Kongo perspective, he saw baptism as a kind of initiation of a new kind. He thus hoped to appropriate the supernatural forces represented by this new cult for the benefit of the royal clan and the Kongo elite, and in this way to strengthen his spiritual and political power. His son Afonso I st , who succeeded him in 1509, in turn sent many young men to study in Portugal, including his son Henrique, who would become a priest and, in 1518, the first African bishop. To embrace Catholicism, the first Kongo kings were able to count on their own intelligentsia, those still young men who had lived in Europe. What is remarkable is that to embrace Catholicism the first Kongo kings were able to count on their own intelligentsia, these still young men who had lived in Europe. It was they, and not missionaries, who took it upon themselves to translate into their native language, Kikongo, the essential notions of the Christian religion. The documents of the time show that, for them, the king of Portugal was identified with God as master of the "powers of the world". In the same way, Jesus, the saints and the angels were assimilated to a certain number of more or less benevolent creatures and geniuses. As for the Virgin Mary, that a grown woman did not have sex seemed quite incongruous; she was therefore referred to by a term meaning "exceptional woman". Catholicism and fetishism Even if, from the beginning, members of the European clergy came to Kongo, the Church was and remained in Kongo hands both theologically and organizationally. Enlightened Sovereign, Afonso I er undertook a large-scale educational program to literate in Portuguese, teach Latin and Christianize the children of the nobility. For this, he had schools built in his capital, attended by a thousand students of both sexes from 1516. The aim was also to train teachers to literate and convert the rest of the population. Afonso thus succeeded in setting up throughout his kingdom an entire educational system to propagate this new religion which, under his authority which it reinforced, reconciled the two systems of beliefs. Christianity was therefore integrated into the many pre-existing rituals, which did not disappear for all that. This particular kind of syncretism, where Catholicism and fetishism continued to coexist, was only made possible by the fact that Kongo was not a colony. In this context, the European clergy, seduced by the king's zeal, knew and had to show themselves to be conciliatory. However, this was subsequently the cause of friction with the missionaries who succeeded one another in Kongo:Jesuits from 1548, replaced, after their expulsion in 1555, by Dominicans, Carmelites, Franciscans then, from 1645, by Capuchins. At that time, the capital Mbanza Kongo would have up to 60,000 inhabitants and house a palace surrounded by a vast royal enclosure, a district where hundreds of Portuguese resided, a cathedral, seven chapels, three churches and a convent where the we teach Portuguese, Latin and catechism. Diplomatic and commercial exchanges Catholic, but very exotic, the kingdom of Kongo will fascinate Europe, from which it does not only adopt the religious aspect. Assimilated to a European monarch, Afonso I er is assigned coats of arms which appear between those of the kings of Portugal and Bohemia in a heraldic collection of the time. The Kongo nobility borrows the Portuguese noble titles, with these Duque, Marquês, Conde, Dom. Kongo rulers will exchange ambassadors with Portugal, Spain, Brazil, the Netherlands and the Holy See. Moving testimony to these diplomatic relations, one can still see in Rome, in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, a marble bust of the ambassador Dom Antonio Manuel Nsaku ne Vunda, who died of exhaustion in January 1608, on his arrival to Pope Paul V, after four years of an eventful journey. The practice of slavery predated the arrival of the Europeans, but their demand began a process that would lead the Kongo rulers to a policy of conquest to obtain ever more captives. Alongside diplomatic exchanges, commercial exchanges developed, with Kongo exporting copper, ivory, raffia fabrics and, very quickly, slaves to Europe. The practice of slavery predated the arrival of the Europeans, but their demand began a process that would lead the Kongo rulers to a policy of conquest to obtain ever more captives. The slaves from the region will leave their mark on the New World:we find traces of them from Manhattan to Brazil, via Florida and the West Indies. Many words of Kongo origin are used in Brazil, and even in English (peanut :peanut) or in French (zombie). Civil wars and succession disputes undermined the Kingdom of Mani Kongo from the end of the 17th century. century, but it will not be definitively defeated by the Portuguese and incorporated into their colony of Angola until 1888. The memory of its famous past, far from fading, continues to arouse much research. Find out more The Kingdom of Kongo in the 16th th in the 18 th century, by Georges Balandier, Fayard (Pluriel), 2013.
