Leonor Nzinga Nlaza
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Leonor Nzinga Nlaza (
Life
The specific ancestry of Leonor Nzinga Nlaza is unknown; she was married to King
She showed a strong interest in Christianity, asking the priests who had come from Portugal many questions about the faith and Portugal, eventually being curious enough that she made "her memory art" by using stones and arranging them to help her understand and recall relationships about Christianity. Subsequently, she supplied the priests with substantial quantities of food from her own personal estate.[1]
Among her children, her son
She was subsequently known as a staunch supporter of the church, although little more is known of her life subsequent to Afonso's succession to the throne. The date of her death is unknown, but she was buried along with her husband in the Church of Sao Miguel in
Subsequent mythology
Around 1680, a story about Leonor Nzinga Nlaza surfaced, claiming that she had been a dedicated defender of the traditional religion and not Christian. Afonso, the story went, begged her to remove an idol which she wore around her neck, and finding her stubbornly refusing to take it off, eventually had her buried alive.[2] This story was subsequently recorded retold many times over the following centuries, with various variations and elaborations. The story is still told at Mbanza Kongo today, typically near a star near the city's old airport, installed sometime before 2000. In the current version, she is called "Dona Mpolo" and the star is part of the UNESCO designation of Mbanza Kongo as a World Heritage Site.[3]
References
- ISBN 9789722705196.
- ^ Cuvelier, Jean (1946). L'ancien royaume de Congo. Brusells: Desclee de Brouwers. pp. 288–289.
- ^ Executive Decree No 31/15. "National Historic-Cultural Heritage some properties located in Mbanza Kongo, Province of Zaire". Retrieved 23 December 2021.
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