Afonso II of Kongo
Afonso II was a ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo in 1561.
| Afonso II | |
|---|---|
| Mwene Kongo | |
| Reign | 1561 to 1561 |
| Predecessor | Diogo I |
| Successor | Bernardo I |
| Dynasty | Lukeni kanda |
Biography
Little is known about Afonso II or his reign. Duarte Lopes told Filippo Pigafetta the Italian humanist who composed a description of Kongo in 1591 that Diogo I's succession was disputed by three pretenders, His son, who few favored was immediately killed, and a second person was elected favored by the majority of the people, but the Portuguese in the capital murdered him , while the party of the second king murdered the Portuguese favorite and then set out a general massacre of Portuguese.[1] However, contemporary records support a different course of events, the first elected king, Afonso II, ruled only a few days, though he had Portuguese support and was overthrown as being illegitimate by Bernardo.[2]
No contemporary sources mention Afonso II by name, perhaps because his reign was so short, but his name appeared on a list of kings written by Antonio da Silva, a Kongo historian who served as Duke of Mbamba in 1617.[3]
References
- Pigafetta, Filippo (1881). A Report of the Kingdom of Congo and the Surrounding Countries. London: John Murray.p. 93
- Thornton, John (2020). A History of West Central Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 68. ISBN 978-1-107-12715-9.
- Saccardo, Graziano (1982). Congo e Angola con la storia dell'antica missione dei Cappuccini. Venice: Curia Provinciale dei Cappuccini Venezia-Mestre. p. 56.