Congolese-Portuguese Relations, 1482-1543: the First Phase of Lusitanian Expansion in Tropical Africa.

Abstract

In this study an attempt has been made to determine the nature and structure of the initial relations between the Old Kingdom of Congo and Lusitania. In order to do so this writer has relied on four types of documents: (1) histories of the Congo written by sixteenth and seventeenth century western missionaries and scholars; (2) Congolese oral tradition; (3) official Lusitanian letters and decrees dealing with Congolese-Portuguese relations; and (4) the letters written on Dom Afonso I's behalf to the Lusitanian Crown and royal officers. The majority of the documents are printed manuscripts and are found in three major collections of primary sources concerning the first phase of Lusitanian overseas expansion. They are: (a) Monumenta Missionaria Africana (series one) by Antonio Brasio; (b) L'Ancien Congo d'apres les Archives Romaines (1518-1640) by Jean Cuvelier and Louis Jadin; and (c) Mireille Dicorato and Jadin, Correspondence de Dom Afonso, Roi du Congo, 1506-1543. The working hypothesis of this study is that the Lusitanian Crown, assisted by the Church, nobility, and the emerging Portuguese bourgeosie, employed Christianity as a means to establish a bridgehead in the Old Kingdom of Congo. This penetration led to the implantation of Luso-Christian religious and political concepts in the Congo and to the creation of a Congolese Luso-Christian elite who cooperated with the Portuguese Crown and helped it objectively to firstly gain a preponderent influence over Congolese politico-religious institutions. Secondly, the establishment of Lusitanian political and religious influence in the Congo led to the distortion and underdevelopment of the Congolese social and economic institutions. This thesis also seeks to demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses of the methodology hitherto used to reconstruct the history of sixteenth century Congolese-Lusitanian diplomatic, cultural-religous, and commercial relations.