Afonso I

known as Afonso the Conqueror

born 1109/11, Guimarães, Port.

died Dec. 6, 1185, Coimbra

First king of Portugal (1139–85).

He defeated his mother to take the throne (1128), ruling first as a vassal of his cousin Alfonso VII of León but later securing Portuguese independence and gaining the title of king (1139). He defeated nearby Muslims and imposed tribute on them, then took Lisbon (1147) with the help of Crusaders. Afonso eventually extended Portugal beyond the Tagus River. He shared power with his son Sancho I and left him a stable, independent monarchy.

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▪ king of Kongo kingdom

original name  Mvemba a Nzinga , also called  Nzinga Mbemba , also spelled  Afonso I Mvemba a Nzinga 

born c. 1460

died 1542

      ruler of Kongo (historical kingdom in west-central Africa) and the first of a line of Portuguese vassal kings that lasted until the early 20th century. He is sometimes called “The Apostle of Kongo” for his role in making Kongo a Christian kingdom.

      Nothing is known of his early life; most of what is known of his later life originates from a remarkable series of letters he wrote between 1509 and 1541 to various kings and government officials in Lisbon and Rome. He was the son of Nzinga a Nkuwu, the first Christian king of Kongo. In 1491 he and his father were baptized by Portuguese priests and assumed Christian names, Afonso I and João I, respectively. During his father's reign as king, Afonso served under him in various roles—including in an administrative capacity in Kongo's northeastern province of Nsundi, which he expanded in the late 1490s. Although he was removed from the Nsundi position c. 1500, he had been restored by the time his father died some years later. Upon his father's death, Afonso's supporters (including his mother) wanted him to ascend as Kongo's new king and summoned him to Mbanza Kongo (M'banza Congo), the kingdom's capital. He managed to defeat his half brother, Mpanzu a Kitima, in battle there and succeeded as king sometime between 1506 and 1509, becoming the sixth manikongo (king of the Kongo).

      During his reign, Afonso extended Kongo's relations with Portugal, reaching an agreement (the Regimento, 1512) with Manuel I of Portugal by which the Kongo accepted Portuguese institutions, granted extraterritorial rights to Portuguese subjects, and supplied slaves to Portuguese traders. Afonso also rebuilt the kingdom's capital using stone, expanded the kingdom to the south and east, and firmly established the Roman Catholic Church in Kongo. Working with Portuguese priests and his son (Henrique Kinu a Mvemba, who was consecrated as bishop c. 1520), Afonso shaped the doctrine of Kongo's version of Christianity.

      In 1526, upon discovering that Portuguese merchants were purchasing illegally enslaved persons and exporting them, Afonso established an administrative system to oversee the slave trade, which reached considerable proportions during his reign. He also sought, unsuccessfully, to restrict Portuguese activities to his kingdom alone. In the last years of his reign, the debate over who would succeed him led to considerable political maneuvering, including an assassination attempt on his life by several Portuguese.

▪ king of Portugal

also called  Afonso Henriques , byname  Afonso the Conqueror , Portuguese  Afonso o Conquistador 

born 1109/11, Guimarães, Port.

died Dec. 6, 1185, Coimbra

      the first king of Portugal (1139–85), who conquered Santarém and Lisbon from the Muslims (1147) and secured Portuguese independence from Leon (1139).

       Alfonso VI, emperor of Leon, had granted the county of Portugal to Afonso's father, Henry of Burgundy, who successfully defended it against the Muslims (1095–1112). Henry married Alfonso VI's illegitimate daughter, Teresa, who governed Portugal from the time of her husband's death (1112) until her son Afonso came of age. She refused to cede her power to Afonso, but his party prevailed in the Battle of São Mamede, near Guimarães (1128). Though at first obliged as a vassal to submit to his cousin Alfonso VII of Leon, Afonso assumed the title of king in 1139.

      By victory in the Battle of Ourique (1139) he was able to impose tribute on his Muslim neighbours; and in 1147 he further captured Santarém and, availing himself of the services of passing crusaders, successfully laid siege to Lisbon. He carried his frontiers beyond the Tagus River, annexing Beja in 1162 and Évora in 1165; in attacking Badajoz, he was taken prisoner but then released. He married Mafalda of Savoy and associated his son, Sancho I, with his power. By the time of his death he had created a stable and independent monarchy.

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