Kongo royal investiture ritually renewed the kingdom’s unity and origins

Evidence

“The procedure of investiture involves the … attempt at reinforcement. Thus, in the ancient kingdom of Kongo, it establishes a symbolic return to origins, by means of a ceremonial that associates the new king, the elders and the people, and invokes the founding partners: the descendant of the founder and the representatives of the ancient occupants of the region that corresponds to the royal province, who have become the ‘allies’ of the Kongo kings. It invokes the spirits of the first kings… . It returns to the time of a history that has become myth and reveals the sovereign as the ‘forger’ and guardian of Kongo unity. The enthronement of the king assures not only the legitimacy of the power held, but also the rejuvenation of the kingship. It gives the people (for a time) the feeling of a new beginning.” — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 1942

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains the ideological function of sacral kingship ritual in the Kongo, a key African antecedent Robinson traces to Palmares.
• SEED: A passage useful for the article on ritual sacrifice and sacral kingship as stabilizing institutions.