Álvaro VII (Mpanzu-a-Mabondo) (b. 1631 - d. 1666) was king of the Kingdom of Congo from 1665 to 1666.[1]
When the death of Antonio I at the Battle of Mbwila (October 29, 1665) was announced, Álvaro, a relative of the dead sovereign and a member of the Kinlaza lineage, was proclaimed king.[2]
The new king sent a trusted Capuchin, Friar Girolamo of Montesarchio, to make peace with the Portuguese in to Luanda, Angola, in Christmas 1665. But the friar was waylaid by a rebellion in Mbamba, and only returned to the capital in June 1666, where he found Álvaro VII already dead; in the meantime, the powerful Count of Soyo, Paulo da Silva, had marched on São Salvador (the capital of the kingdom), killed the king and proclaimed Álvaro VIII in his place.[3]
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