Asserting African Agency: King Afonso I of Kongo

Mvemba a Nzinga, more commonly known as King Afonso I of Kongo, was born in 1456 as the firstborn son of João I, Kongo’s first Christian king.¹ Afonso’s father João I, also known as Nzinga a Nkuwu, was the first to be baptized by a Portuguese expedition in 1491.² João soon established diplomatic and trade relations with Portugal and converted much of the Kongolese nobility to the new religion.³ Trade with Portugal stagnated, and in 1504, João rejected Christianity, returning Kongo to its traditional religion.⁴ Afonso and his cousin Pedro’s ardent Christianity suddenly threatened the king, and João banished them to Afonso’s home province Nsundi.⁵ Upon his father’s death in 1506, Afonso won a decisive battle with his half-brother Mpanzu for control over the kingdom and shortly thereafter led a push for conversion to Christianity.⁶ The kingdom of Kongo that he took over was in many ways alike to that of Portugal.⁷ They both had a ruling nobility, comparable land use and productivity, and widespread trade networks functioning on a common currency.⁸ These similarities manifested in a brotherly relationship between King Afonso I of Kongo and King Manuel I of Portugal, resulting in a lengthy, honest, and friendly correspondence spanning their respective lifetimes.⁹ Afonso made the best of these relations, leveraging them to the advantage of himself and his subjects. King Afonso I of Kongo reshaped West Central Africa through his syncretic devotion to Christianity and consequent control of the Portuguese slave trade, thus revealing African agency in the face of European exploration.

King Afonso and the kingdom of Kongo he presided over gained power both domestically and geopolitically through their syncretic adoption of Christianity. During Afonso I’s successful coup against his half-brother Mpanzu in 1509, Afonso was aided militarily by the Portuguese.¹⁰ King Manuel I of Portugal favored Afonso’s Christianity and his claim to the throne as the firstborn of his father João’s first wife.¹¹ Kongolese kings traditionally took a wife from each kanda, or ruling clan of a central province in Kongo, so that a king could be chosen from their sons.¹² The Portuguese were willing to overlook Afonso’s ensuing continuation of this polygamic tradition, which was not permitted in Christianity, because of his otherwise spotless Christian faith as well as his strategic importance as king of one of Portugal’s largest trading partners.¹³ Soon after Afonso became King, he took it to be his duty to convert his subjects.¹⁴ His job was made simpler by the many similarities between Christianity and the traditional Kongolese religion, such as an all-powerful entity, a dualistic afterlife, and spirits.¹⁵ This allowed for an easier syncretic adoption of Christianity as opposed to a full replacement of traditional religious beliefs.¹⁶ Afonso deftly built his reign upon the Portuguese and Kongolese ideas of the divine, embracing symbols with traditional Kongolese religious symbolism as well as Christian iconography.¹⁷ However, Afonso did not publicly endorse the syncretic Christianity he practiced, instead opting to pursue an official policy of total conversion. In his inaugural speech, which he later sent to King Manuel I of Portugal, he preached the tenets of Christianity and warned that “as for the stones and pieces of wood that you worship: our Lord gave us stones for making houses, and wood for making fires.”¹⁸ King Afonso I showed in his initial moments as king that he prioritized Christian ascendency, and was not afraid to use his kingdom’s Christianity as a source of power in both internal politics and diplomacy. These benefits extended far overseas, as Afonso furthered Kongo’s global standing by pledging allegiance to the pope as a Christian monarch in 1518.¹⁹ King Afonso’s Christianity aided his kingdom’s security as well, cementing Christian Kongo’s protection against pagan adversaries as that of Portugal’s honor as a Christian kingdom, which gave Kongo greater influence in regional dealings that often concerned the slave trade.²⁰

King Afonso I used his influence to control the slave trade to his kingdom’s advantage. It was with the slave trade that he bought his son, nephew, and numerous other relatives (of which he had quite a few) their respective places in European nobility.²¹ He valued the trade in enslaved people as a means of economic gain, with which he funded forceful territorial expansion and satisfied a nobility hungry for the luxury goods from overseas that they had become accustomed to.²² He bragged in 1540 that his kingdom exported more slaves than all those in the West Africa combined, and stated that “we favour their trade, sustain it, open markets and roads … where the pieces [slaves] are traded.”²³ He considered Kongo’s role as a key facilitator of the slave trade to be a position of prestige, one not granted to other parts of Africa where the slaves originated from. Most importantly, Afonso used his powerful role as an arbiter of the slave trade to protect his freeborn subjects from the slave trade’s wrath. In 1526, King Afonso I wrote to King Manuel I of Portugal denouncing the kidnapping of his citizens by rogue Portuguese traders and threatened a future where there “should no longer be a trade or export of slaves” if the issue was not addressed.²⁴ Seeking a solution to the underlying Portuguese demand for slaves, Afonso tasked his cousin Pedro with rerouting the slave trade.²⁵ Pedro negotiated with a region bordering Kongo, securing a durable supply of enslaved people at a lower cost than those purchased in Kongo.²⁶ With Pedro’s success, Afonso saw a significant increase in tax revenue as well as increased security for his subjects, who were no longer targeted by Portuguese merchants.²⁷ King Afonso I was also able to implement safeguards on slavery to ensure that his freeborn subjects need not fear enslavement. In the same year he sent his missive to King Manuel I, he took action to regulate the slave markets, institute laws prohibiting the sale of women, and outlaw unjust enslavement of freeborn Kongolese.²⁸ Because of the success of these measures, very few freeborn Kongolese were enslaved and sold to Portuguese over the next few centuries.²⁹ Afonso created a system where he could profit from the slave trade while simultaneously ensuring his freeborn subjects remained sheltered from its maltreatments. In doing so, Afonso retained agency and political power throughout his dealings with the Portuguese.

King Afonso I of Kongo was able to leverage the power he gained from his embrace of Christianity to ultimately enrich his kingdom and protect its subjects from the most exploitative elements of the slave trade. His policies redirected the slave trade away from West Central Africa and protected the area for centuries to come.³⁰ Afonso’s relationship with the Portuguese brought economic development and positive social change, resulting in a strengthening of the infrastructure necessary for political stability and prosperity. King Afonso I of Kongo showed us that although Christianity was often used by colonizers as a tool of subjugation, with tact, Christianity could also be used by leaders facing colonial powers as a means of protecting the fortunes of their states from colonialism. Afonso’s unique usage and practice of Christianity provides us with a more nuanced understanding of Christianity’s adoption in post-colonial-contact societies that incorporates Christianity’s bilateral role in power dynamics.

Bibliography

Acknowledgments

This paper, while authored by one Henry Zimmerman, is the product of the time and consideration given by many remarkable individuals I’ve been lucky enough to meet. I’m grateful for Migyu Kim from the writing center and her help developing my thesis. In addition, I really appreciate the thought and consideration Samantha Older showed in our writing center meeting. I’m very grateful for my classmates and their insightful comments which have enriched my knowledge of the geopolitical context in which Afonso I lived. I’m grateful as well for the gift of sitting next to the venerated Jay Jung and the astute Kai Wang in the Garver Room at the Oliver Wendell Holmes Library. I’m appreciative of Patrick Xu’s help in the revisions process. Finally, I’d like to thank my mentor Dr. Baldyga for aiding me in the research process and always being available to answer questions.