Africa Study Bible Sampler - Flipbook - Page 107
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G AD 1314. Amda Seyon becomes
emperor of Ethiopia. There is a
crisis between church and state
over royal polygamy during his
thirty-year reign.
H AD 1434. Zara Yaqob becomes
emperor of Ethiopia. He is one of
the greatest Ethiopian emperors.
During his thirty-four-year reign,
Yaqob convenes church councils
like Constantine did in the Roman
Empire and purges his realm of
African traditional religion, which
he saw as pagan.
I AD 1483. The Portuguese arrive
in Kongo, a kingdom that included
parts of what is now Angola,
Cabinda, the Republic of the
Congo, the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, and Gabon.
J AD 1502. Portugal begins the
slave trade by shipping slaves from
Kongo to its sugar plantations
on the island of São Tomé. Many
nations join Portugal in exporting
slaves from Africa to the Americas
over the next 350 years. An estimated 10 to 11 million enslaved
Africans arrived in North America,
South America, and the Caribbean
islands.
NORTH
AMERICA
A
AD 1200
B
C
D E
AD 1300
F G
AD 1400
H
I
AD 1500
J K
L
M
AD 1600
K AD 1506. Afonso I becomes
the second Christian king of
Kongo. His father professed faith
but returned to his traditional
religion at the end of his reign.
Afonso I declares Christianity to
be the official religion of Kongo. So
many people are baptised on the
day of Afonso’s baptism that “the
missionaries’ arms became tired.”
L AD 1517–1648. The Protestant
Reformation challenges the
authority of the Catholic Church
in Europe. Protestant Christianity
focuses on salvation by faith alone
and the authority of the Bible over
church tradition. Early Protestants
become the Lutheran, Reformed,
Presbyterian, and Anglican
churches.
M AD 1524. The remaining
Nubian kingdom of Alodia sends
a delegation to Ethiopia to request
a bishop because it has no more
priests. Ethiopia refuses, explaining
it is in short supply of bishops as
well and relies upon Egypt for most
of its clergy. Nubian Christianity
is not heard from again until the
nineteenth century.
Atlantic Ocean
WEST INDIES
Paramaribo
Lima
AFRICA
Cape Verde
Islands
Sao Tome
& Principe
SOUTH
AMERICA
Kongo
Congo
Angola
Rio de Janeiro
Portuguese Slave Trade from Kongo (J).