Antonian Movement

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The Antonian Movement was a form of Christianity, beginning around 1704, and centered around a Congolese aristocrat named Kimpa Vita, also known as Dona Beatriz.

[edit] Background

Dona Beatriz claimed a vision of Saint Anthony of Padua, the patron saint of Portugal. Beatriz became known for healing and other miracles. Among her beliefs were that Jesus was a black man and that the Kongo was the real home of Christianity. She also held that heaven was for Africans.

European Christian missionaries charged her with heresy and at their request King Pedro IV of Kongo had her arrested in 1706. She was convicted and burned at the stake. Her movement did not immediately die when she did and in 1708 twenty thousand Antonians marched on King Pedro IV, who eventually defeated them and restored his kingdom.^[1]

[edit] Notes

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