The King's Head at MbwilaKingdom of Kongo · 29 October 1665“I will tell you how a kingdom lost its head — and I do not speak in proverbs.”The Kingdom of Kongo was old when the Portuguese caravels first nosed up the river — a state of provinces and courts, of letters exchanged with kings in Lisbon as one crown to another. But the trade in human beings had crept into its veins, and Portugal's hunger grew with feeding.The lesson the elders kept: Succession is a kingdom's spine. Break it, and every outside hand finds a hold.