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Prince and warrior of the Kongo Empire Mpanzu a kitima or Mpanzu a Nzinga was the first son of João of Kongo by a woman called kituba,he became later on a abile warrior and The strongest opposition to Afonso's claim on the throne, his half brother. Mpanzu raised an army in the provinces and made plans to march on Mbanza Kongo. Afonso's adherence to Catholicism was seemingly rewarded when he fought traditionalists led by his brother Mpanza for succession to the throne. His victory was attributed to a miracle described by the chronicler Paiva Manso, who said the army of Mpanzu a Kitima, though outnumbering Afonso's, fled in terror at the apparition of Saint James the Great and five heavenly armored horsemen in the sky.[2]

The story, first recounted in a letter that was not survived by Afonso himself,[3] is open to many interpretations including allegory covering up a coup and the forcing out of anti-Catholic elements within the royal house.[4] What is known is that Mpanzu either fell into a sort of punji trap during his army's rout or was executed by Afonso after the battle.[3] The Portuguese are never mentioned as participating in the battle either by the missionaries present in the kingdom or by Afonso in his letters to Portugal's king. Christianity became the royal faith from then on, and the "miracle" was immortalized in Kongo's coat of arms.[5] The coat of arms was in use in Kongo until at least 1860.