Kimpa Vita

Timeline

1. c. 1684–1700Mount Kibangu · KibanguBorn c. 1684 near Mount Kibangu to a Mwana Kongo noble family, her father a local commander in the king's army. Baptized Dona Beatriz per Catholic custom. She received Kimbangi Marinda training, learning to resolve community disputes through spirit possession. Her upbringing coincided with the long civil war after the destruction of São Salvador in 1678, the royal house split among mountain strongholds such as Kimpanzu, Kinlaza, and Agua Rosada.
2. 1700–1704Mount Kibangu · KibanguIn 1704 during a grave illness at Kibangu she claimed Saint Anthony of Padua possessed her body, ordering her to awaken the Kongo people, end the civil war, and rebuild Mbanza Kongo as the 'City of God.' She rewrote the Hail Mary and other texts to fit Kongo cosmology, claiming Jesus was born in Kongo and baptized in Nsundi, and criticized European missionaries for refusing to recognize Black saints. The movement quickly drew people discontented with the slave trade and endless war.
3. 1700–1706Mbanza Kongo (São Salvador) · Mbanza KongoShe led followers into abandoned São Salvador, sending envoys to the rival kings demanding unity under a monarch blessed by her. Pedro IV saw her as a threat to his own restoration plans. In 1706 she was captured near her home and, together with her companion João Barro, taken to Evululu. Capuchin friars Bernardo da Gallo and Lorenzo da Luca took part in the interrogation; on 2 July she was burned at the stake for witchcraft and heresy. Her young son was spared.