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416 TIIE AFRICAN ORIGINS OF Tiffi MJSSIOANTIQUA stones and leaving the Mercedarians house in Madrid only ''to discuss the af– fairs of his embassy with the king or with his ministers". Later the Mercedarian provincial was to testify that the ambassador's behaviour and way of life had given them all "a very great example", describing how he stayed in his room, suffering greatly "with very great patience submitting himself to the Will of God"31. Probably ignorant of the ambassador's state of health but aware of his despondent decision to abandon his journey to Rome, Pedro wrote to him on the 24 July from Rome reporting his discussions with the pope and the instruc– tions sent to the nuncio, and urged Antonio to complete his journey for with– out his actual presence in Rome little could be accomplished 32 . Already, how– ever, early in June the ambassador had informed Diego de la Encarnacion of his determination to complete his mission in Rome and by October he had be– gun his fateful journey33. When he reached Rome, accompanied by Diego and lodged in the Vatican apartment recently occupied by Cardinal Bellarmine, he was at death's door, and he died on the eve of the feast of Epiphany 1608. Fabio Biondi, by then papal majordomo, presided over a magnificent funeral in Santa Maria Maggiore where his memorial bust is still to be seen, and Paul V took active steps to send a Carmelite mission to Kongo despite the protests of the Spanish and Portu– guese representatives in Rome. A decisive challenge to the patronal pretensions of the Iberian powers had been initiated. The sacrificial deat;h of this first am– bassador from an African Catholic kingdom was to have profound long-term consequences for the future governance of Catholic missions world-wide, but not immediately. The sudden death in August 1608 of Pedro de la Madre de Dias deprived the missionary enthusiasts in Rome of their leader, and the authorities in Lisbon, much to papal displeasure, were able to prevent Diego and other Carmelite missionaries from sailing to Kongo in 1611. For the mo– ment, the Portuguese Padroado as it affected Kongo was preserved. The idea of reaching Ethiopia via the Kongo continued, however, to be canvassed in Rome. 31 A.S.V., Misc. Arm. I, 91, f. 241. Certificat<! signed by the provincial, 10.X.1607. See also f.214 minutes of a letter by Antonio Manuel,_11.V.1607. 32 A.S.V., Misc. Ann. I, 91, f. 229 Pedro de la Madre de Dios to the Ambassador, 24.VII, 1607. 33 A.S.V., Misc. Ann. I, 91, f. 220 Diego de la Encarnacion to ambassador, Alcala, 8.Vl.1607 and £253 deposition by Archbishop of Saragoza, 25.X.1607.