Vunda

Vunda was a small Kongo kingdom within the Mpemba confederation, which held lands between the Loze and Congo rivers from the thirteenth century. Vunda itself ruled smaller units including Mpangala.

In the fourteenth century Mpemba was absorbed into the rising Kingdom of Kongo, and the lord of Vunda, bearing the title Ne Vunda, became a court officer. In 1604 King Álvaro II sent Antonio Emanuele Ne Vunda to the papacy; after travelling through Brazil and Spain, he reached Rome in 1608, died of illness two days later and was buried in Santa Maria Maggiore.