Álvaro III Nimi a Mpanzu, also known as Álvaro III Mbiki a Mpanzu, ruled as king or manikongo of the Kingdom of Kongo from August 1615 to 4 May 1622. Prior to becoming king, he had served as Duke of Mbamba.[1] Like his predecessor, Bernardo II he was a son of King Álvaro II.[1] King Álvaro III was the fourth ruler from the royal house of Kwilu established by King Álvaro I. In 1622, Álvaro III died while his son, Ambrósio, was too young to become king. The nobles elected the Duke of Mbamba to the post of mwenekongo, ushering the short dynasty of the House of Nsundi.
Reign
Alvaro III formalized the construction of a Jesuitcollege in Sao Salvador around 1619. In the 1610s, Dutch–Kongo relations soured after the King enforced the closure of a Dutch factory in Soyo. Kongo would revive relations with the Dutch once more during his reign as a means to check Portuguese expansionism in the region. Dutch factories were reopened at Soyo in 1621.[2]
^ abBattell, Andrew and Samuel Purchas: The Strange Adventures of Andrew Battell of Leigh, in Angola and the Adjoining Regions", page 137. The Hakluyt Society, 1901
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