e-430. The spelling of 'Congo' with 'C' is kept when there is a direct quote in both Portuguese and Italian sources of the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries to maintain the sense of originality of these sources. 2 See APF, SOCG, vol. 495a, fl. 392. 3 Kufunda, maka or maca are Kimbundu words (Mbundu is one of the ethnic groups in the Angolan population), meaning a case to be heard in court or a case taken to court, a court case or talk; see António de Oliveira Cadornega, História Geral das Guerras Angolanas 1680, vol. I, Lisbon: Agência Geral das Colónias, 1972, p. 614 and p. 616. Kimbundu was Mendonça's mother tongue. He may also have spoken Portuguese, Spanish and Italian, considering his education, travels to and stay in Portugal, Spain and Italy. The Portuguese language would have been natural to him, because of his family connections to Portugal. 4 Italy here refers to northern Italy, that is, Mantua, which was ruled by the duchess of Mantua and Montferrat of the Gonzagas family. Mantua was a protectorate of Spain in the seventeenth century. The Gonzagas family intermarried with Spanish nobility. Mantua's