The Congo was the first sub-Saharan African country to be Christianized after the advent of the Portuguese in the late fifteenth century, and contacts between the papacy and the Congo were relatively common from then on. But although many ambassadors from the Congo travelled to Lisbon, no indigenous Congolese ambassador made it to Rome until the early seventeenth century. This lecture will examine the history of this triangular relationship, and analyze the media frenzy that greeted Ne-Vunda’s arrival in Rome, his death in Rome during the night preceding January 6, 1608, and his memorialization by Pope Paul V and later popes. Please join Dr. Kate Lowe, Professor of Renaissance History and Culture at Queen Mary, University of London, for this engaging and enlightening program.