Kongo Kingdom Envoys Visit the Vatican

Name: Kongo Kingdom Envoys Visit the Vatican
Start: 1608

Type Event Region Africa Time 1608

In 1608 an embassy sent by King Álvaro II of Kongo (departing around 1604) reached Rome and had an audience with Pope Paul V, continuing a tradition …

Timeline

1608Mbanza Kongo · AngolaKing Álvaro II of Kongo dispatched envoys from his capital Mbanza Kongo, who traveled by sea to Europe, continuing the diplomatic channel the kingdom had maintained with the Holy See since its conversion to Catholicism in 1491.
1608Vatican · RomeThe envoys had an audience with Pope Paul V in Rome, presenting letters of credence and gifts, requesting that the Holy See send missionaries and confirm the king's authority, and seeking diplomatic support to preserve the kingdom's autonomy under Portuguese colonial pressure.

Sources

Kingdom of Kongo https://www.britannica.com/place/Kingdom-of-Kongo
The Kongolese Saint Anthony: Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita and the Antonian Movement, 1684–1706 — John K. Thornton (1998)