The Strange Adventures of Andrew Battell, of Leigh, in Angola and the Adjoining RegionsBattell, Andrew
History
The Strange Adventures of Andrew Battell, of Leigh, in Angola and the Adjoining Regions
Battell, Andrew
Angola -- Discovery and exploration; Congo (Democratic Republic) -- Discovery and exploration
PEDRO I had been educated in Portugal, and is described by Cavazzi as a
wise prince who had inherited all the virtues of his father, and was a
great friend of the missionaries. His reign was apparently a short
one,[332] and he was succeeded by a cousin, D. FRANCISCO, who only
reigned two or three years, and left the kingdom to a son,[333] D.
DIOGO.[334] Duarte Lopez describes this prince as a man of noble mind,
witty, intelligent, prudent in council, an upholder of the missionaries,
and at the same time a great warrior who, in the course of a few years,
conquered many of the neighbouring countries. His “wars” certainly did
not enlarge the borders of his kingdom, and the only war we know of
ended in disaster. The Portuguese at S. Salvador, jealous of the growing
commercial importance of Luandu, had persuaded the King to send an army
against Ngola Mbandi, they themselves furnishing an auxiliary corps. The
Kongoese, in spite of this, were defeated on the river Dande (about
1556); and Ngola not only appealed to Portugal for protection, but also
allied himself with the Jagas, with whose aid he invaded Kongo (in
1558).
Nor were the relations of D. Diogo with the missionaries quite as
friendly as Lopez would lead us to believe. As early as 1549, D. Diogo
complained of the overbearing conduct of the Jesuits who had arrived in
that year in the company of D. João Baptista, the Bishop of S.
Thomé;[335] the priests, on their side, accused the King of having shown
little respect to the bishop, and of having ordered them to be pulled
out of their pulpits, when they denounced his vices and those of his
people.[336] The Jesuits may have been over-zealous in the performance
of what they conceived to be their duty, and too prone to meddle in
politics; but they seem to have led clean lives, which cannot be said of
all of their clerical brethren. When D. Gaspar Cão,[337] the Bishop of
S. Thomé and Kongo, a man who took the duties of his office seriously,
visited S. Salvador, these priests openly defied his authority. But
after several of the recalcitrant priests had been deported to Portugal,
whilst others had left voluntarily with such wealth as they had been
able to amass, discipline was re-established.[338]
A REIGN OF ANARCHY, 1561-1568.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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