Royal Palace of Évora
With King John II's death, in 1495, his cousin, Manuel I, Duke of Beja and Viseu, succeeded King John II as King Manuel I of Portugal. King Manuel I's personal monopoly on the spice trade allowed the King to be a great patron of the arts, constructing numerous palaces, convents, and churches throughout the country. King Manuel I took a great interest in Évora, establishing his court there on various occasions. From 1502 to 1520, King Manuel I ordered a vast series of renovations, constructions, and enlargements. During the Manueline Campaigns, as the works are collectively known as, the palace grew to one of the largest palaces in Iberia. Through architects Martim Lourenço, Álvaro Anes, and António de Lagoa the Manuline Campaign saw the construction of Couto Hall, the Wing of the Infantes, an infirmary, the Royal Gardens and Hunting Grounds, the Royal Library, and the Gallery of Dames, which is the only part of the palace to survive to present day. Alongside expansion of the palace, King Manuel I also renovated the existing parts of the palace, remodeling the Queen's Hall, the servants quarters, and the Rossio of the Palace. In 1519, King Manuel I ordered architect André Pires to turn the plain Hall of Ambassadors into a Manueline Throne Room, which would direct itself towards the Palace Rossio.
Manuel II of Kongo
Manuel was the brother of Daniel I, and when he was killed in the Sack of São Salvador, became the main Kimpanzu claimant to the Kongo throne. He retreated to Mbamba Lovata, where he established himself as the Awenekongo which became one of three main post-civil war states, the other two held by separate Kinlaza claimants to the throne of Kongo. In 1680, King Pedro III was ruling the rival kingdom of Lemba, where he claimed the Kongo throne in opposition to the House of Kimpanzu partisans residing in Soyo's southern province of Luvota. Manuel had swore vengeance and orchestrated a plot to kill Pedro III. Under the auspice of a truce, treacherously negotiated by the Prince of Soyo, Pedro III was lured into a trap expecting to make peace through marriage to a Kimpanzu noble. Instead, Manuel emerged from the Soyo wedding train dressed as a bride and shot Pedro III to death before escaping. The particular episode in Kongo's history would become one of the sticking points keeping the nobility from finding a lasting peace.