The Portuguese navigator Diego Cao was the first to mention the existence of this kingdom which controlled trade in the region. Upon his arrival in 1483, the kingdom was already at its zenith thanks to yam production and the exchange of hoe and weapon against ivory with the people of inland Angola.
The same year, Diego Cao visited King Nzinga Nkuvu in Mbanza-Kongo the capital. The King established later on diplomatic relations between his kingdom and Portugal.
At the same time, Catholic missionaries arrived in the region in 1490. And the following year, King Nzinga Nkuvu was baptized and took the name Ndo Nzuawu (Don Joâo or Don John).
According to historians, Ignatius of Loyola (founder and first Superior General of the Society of Jesus) sent, by the request of the Portuguese king, some Jesuit missionaries to the Kingdom of the Kongo in 1548.
They opened a school which quickly registered 600 students, said Father François Bontinck, a Belgian historian specializing on Congo.
After the death of King Nzinga Nkuvu, Mvemba Nzinga his son became king in place of his murdered brother Mpanzu Nzinga.
With the baptismal name of Afonso (changed into Ndofunsu), he was largely influenced by missionary mentoring from his childhood.
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