João I of Kongo

King João I (born Nzinga-a-Nkuwu; – 1509) was the 5th ManiKongo of the Kingdom of Kongo between 1470 and 1509. After Portuguese sailors visited his kingdom, he voluntarily briefly converted to Catholicism. He was baptised on 3 May 1491 and took the Portuguese Christian name of João. Soon after, ManiKongo Nzinga-a-Nkuwu João I abandoned the new faith in 1495 for a number of reasons, one of them being the Catholic Church's requirement of monogamy. Politically, he could not afford to abandon polygamy and embrace monogamy, a cultural shift that the king could not contemplate as power in Kongo was elective, rather than hereditary as in Europe; as Kongo culture followed a matrilineality 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. She had a son by the king named Nzinga Mbemba. She would later help him become king of Kongo after her husband's death.

Arrival of the Portuguese In 1483, a Portuguese caravel captained by Diogo Cão reached the estuary of the Congo River and made contact with subjects of the king of Kongo. The Portuguese were initially well-received in Kongo. They offered the king of Kongo many presents, and participated in a festival before returning to Lisbon. Cão sailed back to Portugal carrying a party of Kongo emissaries. On arrival in Lisbon, the emissaries were baptised and placed in a monastery before returning to the king in 1491.

On board the ship were also Portuguese priests, masons, carpenters and soldiers, as well as European goods. Initially, only the king and his nobles were to be converted, but the queen demanded to be baptised. 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 raiders. The European firearms were decisive in the victory and many captives were taken.

Later life Most of the Portuguese later departed with slaves and ivory 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 via the Queen Nzinga a Nlaza.