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Mvemba a Nzinga leads Kongo in Civilization VI
September 5, in the year of our Lord 2016 --
2K and Firaxis Games have revealed that Mvemba a Nzinga will
lead Kongo in Sid Meier’s Civilization VI, launching on Oct 21st
for Windows PC.
Debuting in Civilization VI is the Kingdom of Kongo, led by
Mvemba a Nzinga. Also called King Afonso I, Nzinga is most
famous for his attempts to spread Christianity across his
empire, and increased activities with Portugal in a bid to
modernize the empire.
Mvemba a Nzinga’s road to becoming king was paved with conflict.
In 1506, he defeated his half-brother Mpanzu a Nzinga’s forces
in open conflict to claim the throne. Accounts attributed his
victory to the appearance of Saint James the Great breaking the
morale of the enemy, thus leading to Christianity becoming the
royal faith during Nzinga’s rule.
Nzinga’s relationship with the Portuguese was seen as
occasionally amicable and at other times highly contentious.
Nzinga deplored Portuguese participation in the Kongo slave
trade and fought to stop it. Once allied, Portugal helped bring
structural progress to the empire and attempted to convert all
of Kongo to Catholicism. Kongo welcomed Portuguese missionaries,
who helped modernize the country with new schools, establish a
literate noble class and gain new architecture from Portuguese
designers.