Soon after, ManiKongo Nzinga-a-Nkuwu João I abandoned the new faith for a number of reasons, one of them being the Roman Catholic Church's requirement of monogamy.

[2] Under the reign of Nzinga a Nkuwu, Kongo had grown to 100,000 square kilometers and contained a very centralized government.

[3] In 1483, a Portuguese caravel captained by Diogo Cão reached the estuary of the Congo River and made contact with subjects of the king.

[5] The ships anchored at Mpinda and after a brief halt to baptise the governor of Soyo, uncle to the manikongo, the procession went on to the capital where they were greeted by the king and five of his leading nobles.

[2] Kongo's royal family took the names of their Portuguese counterparts, thus João, Leonor (or Leanor in some instances) and Afonso.