Ruler of kongo who made kongo a christian kingdom. .he was the son of nzinga a nkuwu, the first christian king of kongo. in 1491 he and during his fathers reign as king, afonso served under him in various rolesafonsos supporters (including his mother) wanted him to ascend as kongos new king and summoned him to mbanza kongo, the kingdoms 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 kongos relations with portugal, reaching an agreement 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 kingdoms 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 afonso shaped the doctrine of kongos 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.
