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The Nkuwu Nzinga's baptism3.5.1491
In 1483, a Portuguese caravel captained by Diogo Cão reached the estuary of the Congo River and made contact with subjects of the king. Cão sailed back to Portugal carrying a party of Kongo emissaries. On arrival in Lisbon, the emissaries were baptized and placed in a monastery before returning to the king in 1491.
Along with the emissaries came Portuguese priests, masons, carpenters and soldiers plus European goods. The ships anchored at Mpinda and after a brief halt to baptise the governor of Soyo, uncle to the manikongo, the procession went on to the capital where they were greeted by the king and 5 of his leading nobles.
Baptism
On 3 May 1491, the king of Kongo was baptised along with his family. 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, Eleanor (or Leanor in some instances) and Afonso. 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.
