Insurgents at L’Acul elect a king with a Capuchin officiating

A French militiaman’s diary records that on the Sunday after the capture of L’Acul the insurgents celebrated two marriages in the church, assumed titles, treated the titled men with great respect, had a retained Capuchin named Cajetan officiate, consecrated their colours and elected a king, and that they chose one for each quarter they had taken. Thornton argues that although the diarist says nothing about the nationality of the insurgents, the Christian ceremony and above all the Capuchin point to a Kongolese presence, since that order was honoured in Christian Kongo. He supports the reading with Macaya’s decision to escape to L’Acul in 1795 after imprisonment by Louverture, where he met with his nation at their dances and assemblies. Elections of this kind were not confined to the northern plain: an elected king ruled the mawon community at Les Platons in 1792.