Petar II Petrovic-Njegoš
Encyclopedia
Petar II Petrović-Njegoš , was a Serbian Orthodox
Prince-Bishop of Montenegro (Metropolitan of Cetinje), who transformed Montenegro from a theocracy
into a secular state. However, he is most famous as a poet
. Among his notable works include The Mountain Wreath
(Горски вијенац / Gorski vijenac), the Ray of the Microcosm (Луча микрокозма / Luča mikrokozma), the Serbian Mirror (Огледало српско / Ogledalo srpsko), and False Tsar Stephen the Little (Лажни цар Шћепан Мали / Lažni car Šćepan Mali
).
He belonged to the House of Petrović-Njegoš
, the Prince-Bishops of Cetinje since 1697.
, the capital of the Montenegrin district of Katunska Nahija. He was the son of Tomo Markov Petrović and Ivana Proroković Petrović. He had two brothers, Pero and Jovan, and two sisters. He was part of the noble House of Petrović-Njegoš
, Prince-Bishops of Montenegro for over a century. At the time of his birth, Montenegro did not exist as a state. The borders were undefined and Montenegro was recognised as part of the Ottoman Empire
, while its de jure ruler was a Venetian
Governor
. Power actually lay with the squabbling, disunited clan chiefs
, who variously recognised the authority of the Austrian Empire
, the Republic of Venice
, the Ottoman Empire
or the Cetinje Metropolitan
(Prince-Bishop).
Njegoš spent his early years in Njeguši
. In 1825, his uncle Prince-Bishop Peter I
sent him to the Cetinje Monastery
to be tutored by a monk
, Misail Cvetković, and the Prince-Bishop's secretary, Jakoov Cek in preparation for his succession as Prince-Bishop. He wrote his first poems there to entertain the local chiefs and monks. The most famous of them were satirical
. In the middle of the year, Radivoje was sent to Topla
monastery, near Herceg Novi
, where he was taught Italian
, mathematics
, ecclesiastical singing, the Psalter
and other subjects by the monastery's hieromonk
, Josip Tropović. He often attended the ecclesiastical services in the nearby Savina monastery
, dedicated to Saint Sava
. He remained in Tople until the end of 1826, when he returned to Montenegro
's capital, Cetinje
.
On 20 January 1827, Prince-Bishop Petar I named Radivoje as his successor instead of Đorđije Savov, who went to Russia
to become a cavalry
officer. Petar wanted to send Njegoš to Russia, but he lacked the needed funds, so he decided to educate Rade himself. He taught him Italian
, Russian
, German
, English
and French
. Petar also gave Rade access to his extensive library. The Prince-Bishop assigned one of the foremost Serb
writers of the time, Sima Milutinović Sarajlija
of Sarajevo
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
, to be Radivoje's new teacher. He was taught the Classics
, art
, history
, philosophy
and literature
.
In 1829, Rade gave Sima numerous nationalist poems he collected. The most famous was the song of the National Spirit about the war between the Russian
Empress
Catherine II
and the Ottoman
Sultan
.
of Cetinje
and Viceroy Metropolitan of Montenegro on 19 October 1830 at the age of 17 upon his uncle's death. His uncle Petar I wrote in his will:
The next day, on 20 October, Radivoje buried his uncle. The same day, Rade became a monk under the Archimandrite
of the Monastery of Vranjina
and took the cloak of his deceased uncle. Two days later, Rade himself became an Archimandrite, becoming the unofficial supreme ecclesiastical ruler of Montenegro. On 30 October the same year, he sent a letter to Jeremija Gagić declaring his assertion to power:
Prince-Bishop Radivoje took over the leadership over the Serb clans
of four districts: Katunska Nahija, Lješanska Nahija, Riječka Nahija, and Crmnica
, as well as four Highland tribes
: Bjelopavlići
, Piperi
, Rovčani
, and Moračani. He was only the ecclesiastical ruler over Boka
and the Skadar
. He was still young, so his father Tomo and his uncle Captain Lazar Proroković assisted him as well as some major Chiefs
.
At the end of 1830 and beginning of 1831, Governor Vukolaj Radonjić
moved against Radivoje wishing to end the House of Njegoš's dominance over Montenegro.
At the National Assembly held on 17 November 1831, Vukolaj Radonjić was deposed from his office as the Governor of Montenegro and replaced by Sima Milutinović Sarajlija
, Rade's old teacher.
On 31 January 1831 on the island of Kom
in the Monastery
of Vranjina
, the Archbishop
of Rascia
-Prizren
declared him as the official Archimandrite. Radivoj received the name Petar II in his predecessor's honour. Prince-Bishop Petar II invited two Serbia
n envoys in the Russian Empire
to come and assist him in his reign: Mateja Vučićević, Montenegro's viceroy in Russia and his uncle, Ivan Vukotić, a subofficer in the Russian Army.
The two arrived to Montenegro in September the same year and on 27 September brought the decision on assembling the governmental infrastructure in Montenegro. A Senate
was formed, headed by the Prince-Bishop and composed out of 16 Senators - the most prominent Montenegrin Chiefs. The Senate's duty was to act as a Government and the Supreme Court. A Guard was formed that acted as the Executive branch of the government that had 164 members that served as the Police
and travelling judges in minor conflicts. On 6 December 1831, Peter II wrote to Jeremija Gagić regarding these reforms (in Serbian
):
....I have the privilege to inform you how Montenegrins are coming to a mutual consensus with one another just as they did during the time when the recently-departed Metropolitan's elevation into sainthood was announced, though since then we have established a national governing body of 180 people, of whom 16 are senators and 164 enforcers (police), who are compelled to listen to the will of the people, always respecting the aged and having incumbants themsleves obeying the law. It warms my heart and soul to see my constituents so united and with such reverence and respect towards our tsar and benefactor and towards their elders and leaders, but what a greater happiness will I feel when my people begin to advance in the sciences and bloom intellectually and when all this bears fruit and their sons will not only be able to defend themselves with arms but with the might of their pen, too.
Ivan Vukotić became the first President of the Senate, while Mateja Vučićević became its first Vice-president. The Senate's seat was in Cetinje
, while the Guard's Headquarters were in Rijeka Crnojevića
. Petar II was present on every assembly of the Senate except judgments of capital sentences, in which he was forbidden to participate by the canon law. Prince-Bishop Petar II later named captains to monitor the Serb clans
in his domain and to act as his representatives to the clans, and he as well also created the Grenadiers (Perjanici) - the Prince-Bishop
's personal elite guard. He also formed a special Border Militia ( or Пандури) to patrol the borders of Montenegro
.
Up to 1832, Petar fully cancelled governorship, therefore affirming full power over Montenegro
. Petar II renamed the Praviteljstvo suda (institutional court) into Praviteljstvujušći sovjet (institutional council), expanding its powers from just courtial to also management.
The inauguration of taxes followed suit—in 1833.
Prince-Bishop Petar II wanted to raise Montenegro's international prestige. In order to achieve that, after a brief stop in Vienna
, he visited the Russian Czardom
in 1833, where he was accepted into Ecclesiastical service as Prince-Bishop
of Montenegro
in Saint Petersburg
, the Empire
's capital. In 1833, just before his journey to Serbia
, Serbian Orthodox Christian
Bishop of Užice
gifted him Danica of Vuk Stefanović Karadžić
from 1826.
Peter II has contributed greatly to education by founding the first public Elementary School
in Cetinje
, Montenegro's capital in 1834. Before that, priests and monks taught school in monasteries benefitting privileged children rather than the whole community. That year, he also opened a printing press
in Cetinje specifically for printing scholastic textbooks, his works - the same year it printed the Hermit
of Cetinje
-- and for other Serbian authors as well. In 1835, the Montenegrin forces captured a cannon in Žabljak
.
In 1836, he paid another visit to the Russian Empire
, again making a short stop in Vienna
. The same year, 1836, he published The ABC of the Montenigrin language. In 1838 he also published The Serbian
Grammar
. He also re-printed the school textbooks originally printed by his uncle Petar I Petrović-Njegoš
The Serbian
elementary reading book.
The conflicts with the neighbouring Muslim
s of the Ottoman Empire
were insignificant - except the epic struggle with The Death of Smail-aga Čengić
in 1840 on Mljetičko. Peter could not achieve the high statehood of his predecessor - the Serbian Orthodox Christian
monasteries of and Stanjevići were bought by the Empire of Austria
, while Vranjina
and Lesandro were seized by the Pasha
of Skadar
. Although Peter II always supported rebels against the Ottoman authority and gladly went to openly fight the Ottomans
, Russia's peaceful policy towards the Ottoman Empire meant that no larger martial success could be undertaken.
In 1842, Prince-Bishop Peter II constructed another elementary school - in Dobrsko Selo—near Cetinje. On the 11 June 1842, the Prince of Serbia Mihailo Obrenović
and the Serbian Literature Society elected him as an "Honorable Member" as a reward for his merits in literature and education of the Montenegrin people. Later, in 1845, he was declared the Metropolitan
of Cetinje
. The same year, 1845, Peter II published the Ray of the Microcosm, an impressive, masterfully written philosophical work. In 1846, Peter wrote a collection of Montenegrin national poems - the Serbian mirror in honor of one of the greatest Russian writers - Pushkin.
In 1846 and 1847, Peter II was in Vienna
, the Austrian Imperial
capital. There, he published in 1847 The Mountain Wreath
- his most famous work. The same year, 1847, Njegoš wrote the Pseudo Tsar
Stephen the Small, where he described the life of the first uniter and ruler of modern Montenegro - Tsar Stephen the Small from the 18th century.
In 1848, the government of the Principality of Serbia
sent
him the proposal of unification of Serbs, Croats and Bulgarians. Petar agreed but said:
In late 1848 and early 1849, Prince-Bishop Peter II assisted the Revolutionary fights of Croatian Ban
Josip Jelačić
and maintained close ties with the Principality of Serbia. Although Peter II's outer policy completely relied on Russia, Russia
maintained good relations with the Ottoman Empire
- so nothing more than a reconciliation with the Ottomans
could be achieved.
In 1851, Prince-Bishop Petar II minted a Montenegrin
currency
: Perun
. Petar named it by the supreme Slavic mythic god
.
In 1851, Peter II caught tuberculosis. He paid a visit to Italy
the same year, 1851, attempting to find a cure, but to no avail. Then he hurried to Vienna—hoping to anticipate Omer Pasha's invasion of Montenegro. He wished to go to the Russian Tsar. However, he was refused. The Russians made an execuse that the trip would be strenuous in view of his health—a transparently insulting affront to the sick Sovereign of Montenegro. Njegoš did not live to see his invasion of Montenegro in 1853, the dread year of Omer Pasha, but he foresaw as early as 1851 all the horrow that it held in store for a hungry, poor, unprepared land. Montenegro was to be saved from destruction by the intervention of the Great Powers, an intervention that did not come too late thanks only to the heroic resistance of the Montenegrins and Prince Danilo.
Njegoš failed to accomplish anything in Vienna. While waiting for the inane and ambiguous replies of the slow Russian bureaucracy and the inconsiderate consideration of Vienna, he was overtaken by the sultry summer and the rapid worsening of his illness.
He remained in Vienna nearly two months and met Milica Stojadinović Srpkinja, Branko Radičević
himself ill with tuberculosis (he was to outlive Njegoš by one year). Also in Vienna were Vuk Karadžić, Anastas Jovanović
, Ludwig August Frankl and jurist Francesco Carrara
, who all came to pay their respect. In Vienna he was treated by Dr. Joseph Škoda, a renowned physician in his day. The same year, 1851, he managed to publish his last major work - Pseudo Tsar
Stephen the Small. Peter II Njegoš died in Cetinje
of tuberculosis on - exactly 21 years after his accession to the throne; he was buried in a small chapel on top of Mount Lovćen
where his mausoleum was built. During the period of Communist rule in Yugoslavia
it was demolished for ideological reasons by the authorities to make way for a secular monument.
On April 14, 1849 Njegoš wrote to Alexander Karađorđević, Prince of Serbia, what he thought of the 1848 Revolution in the Austrian Empire:
The Serbian Duchy (Vojvodina
) is standing on weak legs, and even were it to become entirely free of the Magyars, there would be in it no advantage whatever for Serbdom inasmuch as the Serbs are not fighting for themselves but for someone else.
On October 5, 1851 Njegoš replied to Vuk Stefanović Karadžić that he had received Ludwig August Frankl's Gusle and Branko Radičević
's Pesme (Poems) with his letter, and then suddenly he added:
I would write a fine answer to your letter if death would let me, but in view of the condition I am in, even this much is enough, for when the body suffers and groans, the soul is tempest-tossed.
dualism
. God and matter are coeternal. Mind and body are opposed principles both ontologically and axiologically. Mind originates in heaven, whereas body belongs to the "realm of decay." The body is "the physical shackles of the soul"; passions "lay man below the beast," whereas mind makes him "equal to immortals" (Canto 1: 199-200). In Luca Mikrokozma Njegoš interpreted the union of mind and body as a consequence of sin and the Fall. The first man, Adam, was once pure spirit, but he joined Satan in his rebellion against God, although he soon repented. He was then "clad in a body" and cast upon the earth, which was created by God as a place of expiation after man's sin. Thus, Njegoš's Adam, unlike Milton's or the Adam of official church doctrine, sinned prior to his bodily creation.
Njegoš, therefore, showed the necessity for human struggle and suffering in his epic religious poem Luca mikrokozma ("The Ray of the Microcosm," 1845) and made them profoundly meaningful in his other great poem. Gorski Vjenac ("The Mountain Wreath," 1847) is a mighty hymn to the national struggle for liberation and to the struggle against evil in general. To justify this struggle he elaborated a dynamic and basically dialectical conception of the world. The world is made up of opposed and dangerous forces at permanent war. Through this struggle, order emerges out of chaotic disorder, and spiritual power triumphs over great confusion. Struggle and suffering are not mere evils but have a positive, creative aspect as well. The spark appears only after the flint is struck hard, and the soul that has endured temptations "nourishes the body with internal fire." Heroism is the master of evil, and human life has an aim only if it contributes to the realization of liberty, honour, and dignity. His ethics were essentially derived from his people and, in turn, had a powerful influence on them in all trying moments of their history.
According to Njegoš, difficulties and suffering help to forge the human soul. Without effort and sacrifice nothing really great can be accomplished; even a good song cannot be created without pain. So man should not hesitate to fight against evil and tyranny and to overcome any fear. This heroic philosophy corrsponded to the attitudes of all Serbs in difficult situation and set forth a moral ideal which enormously influenced their behaviour.
's Paradise Lost
, which he probably knew from a French translation; and while this did not garner the popularity of The Mountain Wreath, it is just as great and easily the finest philosophical poem in the Serbian language. The premise of The Ray is the myth of man's first sin. Njegoš's Adam
is a fallen angel while Milton adheres to the Bible with all his Puritanical puritanism.
Veselin Čajkanović
was successful in recording folk tales about how God had created men with wings. There is a fable in Montenegro about the evil Tsar Dukljan—the Serbian name for Diocletian
-- who had enslaved men and rebelled against God, defeating even his blessed servants. According to the tale, Dukljan, like Njegoš's Satan, was immortal, and only God was capable of disciplining him—by placing him in fetters. This tale, though it clearly deals with primeval life of man, may have had an influence on Njegoš because his motifs of evil and the kingdom of darkness are more clearly defined and more profound, harkening back to the primeval cosmic struggle between light and darkness.
The German scholar Alois Schmaus, on the other hand, arrived at the conclusion that Njegosh differed from Milton in something fundamental: Milton's Adam violates God's commandments as the first man, while Njegoš's Adam is a fallen angel who had existed in heaven, but who, because of his participation in Satan's rebellion, was cast upon the earth to atone for his transgression. Schmaus traced Njegoš's influences to the East—to Plato and to those earliest Christian teachings which were still under the influence of the Greek Idealist philosophy.
Proceeding from a different standpoint, Njegoš's religion, Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović was the first to point out the originality of The Ray of the Microcosm while Isidora Sekulić
confirmed the poetic-philosophical independence of Njegoš's poem.
The Ray, set in the framework of a Homeric story told with Biblical characters, though written in the early nineteenth century, transcends time. Both Greek myths and Biblical stories generally have been better known to Eastern European readers through Njegoš than through any other ancient source. Njegoš confronts the myth of man's original sin and the main issue of Christianity, which raises the question, can man account for his actions? Njegosh views (as stated before) draw from the early church fathers of the East, and, still earlier than them, the father of philosophy (Plato). As Njegoš tells it, Adam is a fallen angel who revolted along with Satan and then abandoned the latter on the third day of the War in Heaven, while the battle was still in doubt. In other words, Njegosh conceives of man as having existed before the Fall, so that ideas preceded man and goodness preexisted as well. God regards Adam as too black for Heaven and too white for Hell, and so creates Earth as a purgatorial prison for him—a world combining elements of both Heaven and Hell—in which he may work out his punishment and purification. Man's tšragic lot on earth is thus not due to the eating of a forbidden fruit but rather to the misbehavior of an angelic Adam before the Earth was ever created. In Njegoš, there is scarcely any idealization of Satan, as with Serfino della Salandra (Adamo Caduto) and John Milton
(Paradise Lost), and his portrayal of God is much less clearly anthropomorphic. After all, Njegoš found man, not God, to be historically evolving. Though Milton descried himself as a believer, his beliefs, however were suspect; and it is clear that a number of Gnostic beliefs had crept into his religious system. Unlike Milton's Paradise Lost and Blake
's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Njegoš's apocryphon
is an unusual one and deserves to be better known. Njegoš's importance in the world in general, and in world literature in particular, also beckons to be recognized.
The Mountain Wreath is, indeed, his most popular work, though some may argue the greatest. It is a form of poetic drama, a succession of fictitious scenes describing, after a dedication to the liberator of the Serbs, Karageorge, the efforts of the Montenegrins in the beginning of the eighteenth century to wipe out those Muslim
converts who were menacing the integrity of the Montenegrin Christians. The so-called massacre provides the conflict between Montenegrins and the Turks and its resolution, while behind it echo centuries of woe and the struggle of the Serbian nation to free itself not only from Ottoman rule but from all foreign domination. Moreover, through poetic license, "the massacre" becomes a real expression, a reflection of the fundamental cosmic struggle and the laws of that struggle which hold relentless sway over the world of men. The concrete events are Montenegrin, the backdrop and the cause are Serbian, but in everything and over everything are the absolute laws. Njegoš describes all the different types of his common mountain people. There is Bishop Danilo, more a man of thought than of action, the aged and blind monk Stephen with his wisdom of experience, the various heads of the different clans, and in contrast to them the representatives of the Muslim Montenegrins and the Turkish vizier
, all formerly Christians. Yet it is more than a fabricated tale of a mountain feud
culminating in a Christian victory, for Njegoš knew how to merge it in a truly Shakespearean sense with the highest aspirations and thoughts of humanity. The pictures of the celebration of the Serb name-day, the Slava
, the dancing of the kolo
, and the frequent allusions to the battle of Kosovo
, all make it in a broad panorama of the times.
Historian Ilarion Ruvarac
was the first to prove that the so-called massacre as described in The Mountain Wreath had never taken place.
It was historian, Vladimir Ćorović
, who definitively explained Njegoš's verse.
In the decasyllabic line of folk poetry, almost without exception the ninth syllable, that is, the first syllable of the fifth foot, is either a long accented syllable or an unaccented one, as in the following cases:
I shall take thee now for mine own darling...
To the tsar thou shalt give salutation...
This is natural: the chanter lets his voice drop on the ninth syllable in order to take breath for the next verse he must sing. In the folk decasyllabic line trochaic meters predominate over the dactylic.
In the poem Baranović Strahinja the ratio between them is, according to Ćorović, 74:26, and this is approximately the same with the other poems of the guslars. Besides, the folk poetry as a rule has neither imagery nor Leonine verse.
s in his day, and their acceptance, Njegoš considered it his mission as an enlightened ruler to instruct some of his unenlightened and credulous folk by writing this poetic drama. It was a harmful feature of Montenegrin life then, just as it is today (Antonije Abramović
and Miras Dedeic
). It also hurt Njegoš as a ruler who had to organize all forces toward liberation from the Turks and others. Njegoš kept in mind such pretenders who found fertile soil in a Montenegro caught between myth and the concrete exigencies of the struggle against the Turks and the West as he wrote Stephen the Small. The result was one of the greatest trilogies of the early nineteenth century, full of the fury and dark passion from which emerged the mysterious historic figure known to so few as Scepan Mali
. Spanning the years from 1767 to 1774, the epic poem begins with the false Stephen who usurped the reins of government from Bishop Sava II Petrović-Njegoš
, Petar II's uncle. Stephen, whom the Montenegrins accepted as the murdered Russian Tsar Peter III, is not an unscrupulous, ambitious person whose lust for power is so compelling that, in order to achieve his ends he would betray his country to enemies. Instead, the impostor attempts to create a civil government in Montenegro. That attempt would bring down on Montenegro a Turkish and Venetian campaign, which served only to point up the significance of both his personality and his work. Njegoš perceived Stephen's ambivalence: a fraud, yet a sensible one who spoke wisely and gave counsel beneficial both for the people and for the cause of Serbian and Slav emancipation.
Somewhere in 1851 Njegoš placed at the head of his Stephen the Small the well-known verses:
Do not ask how one doth cross himself,
Rather ask which blood doth warm his breast,
Whose the milk upon which he was fed.
Njegoś's desire, at that very time, was to stress the vital idea of the unification of the South Slavs. For him this idea was something higher and deeper than a political aim; it was the union of people ordained to share the same fate, nurtured with the same milk, and warmed by the same blood, as he put it.
It is interesting to note that Njegoš was helped in his research for documents which he used in Stephen the Small by Niccolò Tommaseo
, who was himself suspected by the Austrian authorities to be one of the leaders of the democratic and anti-Austrian movement in Venice at the time.
Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches, ranking sixth in order of seniority after Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Russia...
Prince-Bishop of Montenegro (Metropolitan of Cetinje), who transformed Montenegro from a theocracy
Theocracy
Theocracy is a form of organization in which the official policy is to be governed by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided, or simply pursuant to the doctrine of a particular religious sect or religion....
into a secular state. However, he is most famous as a poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
. Among his notable works include The Mountain Wreath
The Mountain Wreath
The Mountain Wreath is a poem and a play, a masterpiece of Montenegrin and Serbian literature, written by Montenegrin Prince-Bishop and poet Petar II Petrović-Njegoš.Njegoš wrote The Mountain Wreath during 1846 in Cetinje and published it the following year after the...
(Горски вијенац / Gorski vijenac), the Ray of the Microcosm (Луча микрокозма / Luča mikrokozma), the Serbian Mirror (Огледало српско / Ogledalo srpsko), and False Tsar Stephen the Little (Лажни цар Шћепан Мали / Lažni car Šćepan Mali
Šcepan Mali
"Tsar" Šćepan Mali was a ruler of Montenegro from 1767 until his death in 1773. He seized the throne by falsely representing himself as the Russian Tsar Peter III.-Biography:Šćepan Mali was a farmer from Dalmatia...
).
He belonged to the House of Petrović-Njegoš
House of Petrovic-Njegoš
The House of Petrović-Njegoš was the Royal House of Montenegro from 1696 to 1918. Montenegro had enjoyed de facto independence from the Ottoman Empire from 1711 but only received formal international recognition as an independent principality in 1878.Montenegro was ruled from inception by...
, the Prince-Bishops of Cetinje since 1697.
Birth and early life
Radivoje "Rade" Tomov Petrović was born on in the village of NjegušiNjeguši
Njeguši is a village in southern Montenegro, within Cetinje municipality. It is located on the slopes of Mount Lovćen, within Lovćen national park....
, the capital of the Montenegrin district of Katunska Nahija. He was the son of Tomo Markov Petrović and Ivana Proroković Petrović. He had two brothers, Pero and Jovan, and two sisters. He was part of the noble House of Petrović-Njegoš
House of Petrovic-Njegoš
The House of Petrović-Njegoš was the Royal House of Montenegro from 1696 to 1918. Montenegro had enjoyed de facto independence from the Ottoman Empire from 1711 but only received formal international recognition as an independent principality in 1878.Montenegro was ruled from inception by...
, Prince-Bishops of Montenegro for over a century. At the time of his birth, Montenegro did not exist as a state. The borders were undefined and Montenegro was recognised as part of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, while its de jure ruler was a Venetian
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
. Power actually lay with the squabbling, disunited clan chiefs
Serb clans
Serb clans is a general term referring to what are known as plemena and bratstva , traditional geo-political units of the Western Balkans that now richly attest social anthropology and family history . The descendants of the clans are divided by regional and lately, national affiliation...
, who variously recognised the authority of the Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
, the Republic of Venice
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
, the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
or the Cetinje Metropolitan
Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral
The Metropolitanate of Montenegro is the largest diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro. Founded in 1219 by Saint Sava, it is now one of the most prominent dioceses in the Serbian Orthodox Church. The current Metropolitan is Amfilohije...
(Prince-Bishop).
Education and nomination
Njeguši
Njeguši is a village in southern Montenegro, within Cetinje municipality. It is located on the slopes of Mount Lovćen, within Lovćen national park....
. In 1825, his uncle Prince-Bishop Peter I
Petar I Petrovic-Njegoš
Petar I Petrović Njegoš was the ruler of Montenegro, the Cetinje Episcop of the Serbian Orthodox Church and Exarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church throne. He was the most popular spiritual and military leader from the Petrović dynasty...
sent him to the Cetinje Monastery
Cetinje Monastery
The Cetinje Monastery is the most famous Serb Orthodox monastery in Montenegro. It is located in Cetinje and is the seat of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral and its name derives from Saint Peter of Cetinje...
to be tutored by a monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
, Misail Cvetković, and the Prince-Bishop's secretary, Jakoov Cek in preparation for his succession as Prince-Bishop. He wrote his first poems there to entertain the local chiefs and monks. The most famous of them were satirical
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
. In the middle of the year, Radivoje was sent to Topla
Topla
Topla may refer to several villages in Romania, Serbia, or Montenegro:* Topla, a village in Bor District in Serbia* Topla monastery, near Herceg Novi* Topla, a village in Cornereva Commune, Caraş-Severin County...
monastery, near Herceg Novi
Herceg Novi
Herceg Novi is a coastal town in Montenegro located at the entrance to the Bay of Kotor and at the foot of Mount Orjen. It is the administrative center of the Herceg Novi Municipality with around 33,000 inhabitants...
, where he was taught Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, ecclesiastical singing, the Psalter
Psalter
A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the later medieval emergence of the book of hours, psalters were the books most widely owned by wealthy lay persons and were...
and other subjects by the monastery's hieromonk
Hieromonk
Hieromonk , also called a Priestmonk, is a monk who is also a priest in the Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholicism....
, Josip Tropović. He often attended the ecclesiastical services in the nearby Savina monastery
Savina monastery
Savina Monastery is a Serb Orthodox monastery near the city Herceg Novi in Boka Kotorska, and is made of thick Mediterranean vegetation in one of the most beautiful parts of the northern Montenegrin coast. It was built by the Duke of Saint Sava, Stjepan Vukčić Kosača of Herzegovina...
, dedicated to Saint Sava
Saint Sava
Saint Sava was a Serbian Prince and Orthodox monk, the first Archbishop of the autocephalous Serbian Church, the founder of Serbian law and literature, and a diplomat. Sava was born Rastko Nemanjić , the youngest son of Serbian Grand Župan Stefan Nemanja , and ruled the appanage of Hum briefly in...
. He remained in Tople until the end of 1826, when he returned to Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
's capital, Cetinje
Cetinje
Cetinje , Цетиње / Cetinje , Italian: Cettigne, Greek: Κετίγνη, Ketígni) is a town and Old Royal Capital of Montenegro. It is also a historical and the secondary capital of Montenegro , with the official residence of the President of Montenegro...
.
On 20 January 1827, Prince-Bishop Petar I named Radivoje as his successor instead of Đorđije Savov, who went to Russia
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
to become a cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
officer. Petar wanted to send Njegoš to Russia, but he lacked the needed funds, so he decided to educate Rade himself. He taught him Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
. Petar also gave Rade access to his extensive library. The Prince-Bishop assigned one of the foremost Serb
Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina are people of Serb ethnicity inhabiting the Balkan regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, or, since the establishment of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a state in the 1990s, the Serbs who have its citizenship. The Serbs are one of the three constitutive nations of this...
writers of the time, Sima Milutinović Sarajlija
Sima Milutinovic Sarajlija
Sima Milutinović "Sarajlija" was a Bosnian–Serbian poet, hajduk, translator, historian, philologist, diplomat and adventurer.-Biography:...
of Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, to be Radivoje's new teacher. He was taught the Classics
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
, art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
.
In 1829, Rade gave Sima numerous nationalist poems he collected. The most famous was the song of the National Spirit about the war between the Russian
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
Empress
Tsaritsa
Tsaritsa , formerly spelled czaritsa , is the title of a female autocratic ruler of Bulgaria or Russia, or the title of a tsar's wife....
Catherine II
Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...
and the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
Sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
.
Ruler of Montenegro
Rade became the BishopBishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of Cetinje
Cetinje
Cetinje , Цетиње / Cetinje , Italian: Cettigne, Greek: Κετίγνη, Ketígni) is a town and Old Royal Capital of Montenegro. It is also a historical and the secondary capital of Montenegro , with the official residence of the President of Montenegro...
and Viceroy Metropolitan of Montenegro on 19 October 1830 at the age of 17 upon his uncle's death. His uncle Petar I wrote in his will:
- I make and pronounce my nephew Rade Tomov Perović my heir, governor and guardian of everything mine and Church's, who I hope shall be a man of work and wisdom, as much as blessed Heavenly FatherGodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
wished to grant him with, and whom to God, our Emperor and to Montenegrins and Highlanders I recommend with all my heart and soul.
The next day, on 20 October, Radivoje buried his uncle. The same day, Rade became a monk under the Archimandrite
Archimandrite
The title Archimandrite , primarily used in the Eastern Orthodox and the Eastern Catholic churches, originally referred to a superior abbot whom a bishop appointed to supervise...
of the Monastery of Vranjina
Vranjina
Vranjina is an island in Skadar Lake in the Montenegrin municipality of Podgorica.-About the island:Created by a delta of the Morača River, the island is in the northern part of the lake...
and took the cloak of his deceased uncle. Two days later, Rade himself became an Archimandrite, becoming the unofficial supreme ecclesiastical ruler of Montenegro. On 30 October the same year, he sent a letter to Jeremija Gagić declaring his assertion to power:
- It seems to me I have cried all I could. Only because I realised that of crying there is no use, but only damage and peril to my eyes, but still my dolorous heart does not let my stop the tears I am shedding for my father and benefactor. Firstly, because I lost the benefactorPetar I Petrovic-NjegošPetar I Petrović Njegoš was the ruler of Montenegro, the Cetinje Episcop of the Serbian Orthodox Church and Exarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church throne. He was the most popular spiritual and military leader from the Petrović dynasty...
's gracefulness, secondly, because the people have lost its pastor and defender who was an unshaken bastion of Christian faith and freedom, and a loyal fatherland's defender and a hesitant ally to the Russian throne up to his last words, which he spoke to me on his death bed. I asked him: "Lord, I see you are dying, but what shall I do now?" And he sat up on his bedding, and began talking to me: "I can not help you with anything now, but hear these last words from me: pray to God and stick to RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
."
Prince-Bishop Radivoje took over the leadership over the Serb clans
Serb clans
Serb clans is a general term referring to what are known as plemena and bratstva , traditional geo-political units of the Western Balkans that now richly attest social anthropology and family history . The descendants of the clans are divided by regional and lately, national affiliation...
of four districts: Katunska Nahija, Lješanska Nahija, Riječka Nahija, and Crmnica
Crmnica
Crmnica is a geographical region in southern Montenegro. It is within the municipality of Bar and is considered a division of that municipality. The capital of the region is Virpazar...
, as well as four Highland tribes
Serb clans
Serb clans is a general term referring to what are known as plemena and bratstva , traditional geo-political units of the Western Balkans that now richly attest social anthropology and family history . The descendants of the clans are divided by regional and lately, national affiliation...
: Bjelopavlići
Bjelopavlici (clan)
Bjelopavlići is a Serb clan and region in central Montenegro . The clan is situated around Danilovgrad.-History:The Bjelopavlići are first mentioned Serbian documents dated to 1411, when they, together with Malonšići, Ozrinići and Maznići loot a ship from Dubrovnik. The eponymous founder, Bijeli...
, Piperi
Piperi clan
The Piperi tribe is a Highland clan of Montenegro. Their land is located in the northeast; between the Morača and Zeta rivers, reaching the northern suburbs of Montenegrin capital Podgorica.-History:...
, Rovčani
Rovcani
Rovčani or Rovči is a highland clan and town in Montenegro.The clan takes its name from Rovča region in Montenegro. Nikša is the oldest known ancestor, he had a son, youngest Gojak, who founded the clan...
, and Moračani. He was only the ecclesiastical ruler over Boka
Bay of Kotor
The Bay of Kotor in south-western Montenegro is a winding bay on the Adriatic Sea. The bay, sometimes called Europe's southernmost fjord, is in fact a submerged river canyon of the disintegrated Bokelj River which used to run from the high mountain plateaus of Mount Orjen...
and the Skadar
Shkodër
Shkodër , is a city located on Lake of Shkoder in northwestern Albania in the District of Shkodër, of which it is the capital. It is one of the oldest and most historic towns in Albania, as well as an important cultural and economic centre. Shkodër's estimated population is 90,000; if the...
. He was still young, so his father Tomo and his uncle Captain Lazar Proroković assisted him as well as some major Chiefs
Tribal chief
A tribal chief is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies with social stratification under a single leader emerged in the Neolithic period out of earlier tribal structures with little stratification, and they remained prevalent throughout the Iron Age.In the case of ...
.
At the end of 1830 and beginning of 1831, Governor Vukolaj Radonjić
Vukolaj Radonjic
Vukolaj Radonjić II was the last Montenegrin Guvernadur.-Biography:His training was completed in the noble Academy in Šklov in 1778, where he gained his title and kavalijer , and received the holy order of Ana. He married Stana Vukova Petrovic , about 1775...
moved against Radivoje wishing to end the House of Njegoš's dominance over Montenegro.
At the National Assembly held on 17 November 1831, Vukolaj Radonjić was deposed from his office as the Governor of Montenegro and replaced by Sima Milutinović Sarajlija
Sima Milutinovic Sarajlija
Sima Milutinović "Sarajlija" was a Bosnian–Serbian poet, hajduk, translator, historian, philologist, diplomat and adventurer.-Biography:...
, Rade's old teacher.
On 31 January 1831 on the island of Kom
Kom Monastery
Kom Monastery is a Serbian Orthodox monastery in Montenegro. It is located on the small island of Odrinska gora, close to Žabljak Crnojevića, where the Crnojević River flows into the western section of Lake Skadar. The Kom Monastery was built between 1415 and 1427, during the rule of the Crnojevići...
in the Monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
of Vranjina
Vranjina
Vranjina is an island in Skadar Lake in the Montenegrin municipality of Podgorica.-About the island:Created by a delta of the Morača River, the island is in the northern part of the lake...
, the Archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
of Rascia
Raška (state)
Principality of Serbia or Serbian Principality was an early medieval state of the Serbs ruled by the Vlastimirović dynasty, that existed from ca 768 to 969 in Southeastern Europe. It was established through an unification of several provincial chiefs under the supreme rule of a certain Višeslav,...
-Prizren
Prizren
Prizren is a historical city located in southern Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and district.The city has a population of around 131,247 , mostly Albanians...
declared him as the official Archimandrite. Radivoj received the name Petar II in his predecessor's honour. Prince-Bishop Petar II invited two Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n envoys in the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
to come and assist him in his reign: Mateja Vučićević, Montenegro's viceroy in Russia and his uncle, Ivan Vukotić, a subofficer in the Russian Army.
The two arrived to Montenegro in September the same year and on 27 September brought the decision on assembling the governmental infrastructure in Montenegro. A Senate
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a legislature or parliament. There have been many such bodies in history, since senate means the assembly of the eldest and wiser members of the society and ruling class...
was formed, headed by the Prince-Bishop and composed out of 16 Senators - the most prominent Montenegrin Chiefs. The Senate's duty was to act as a Government and the Supreme Court. A Guard was formed that acted as the Executive branch of the government that had 164 members that served as the Police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
and travelling judges in minor conflicts. On 6 December 1831, Peter II wrote to Jeremija Gagić regarding these reforms (in Serbian
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
):
- ...imam čest Vama objaviti kako se Crnogorci nahode u soglasiju među sobom isti kako su bili ovoga prošloga vremena od kako je blaženopočivšeg mitropolita zavješčanije proglašeno, ali sada je suviše stavljeno upravlenije narodnje, koje upravlenije sostovlja 180 ljudih, iz kojijeh su 16 sovjetnici (senatori), a 164 ispolnitelji (polizia), koje sluša narod dobro i kako je dužnost narodnja svoje starije slušati i sobom odabranima povinovat se. Mene se raduje srdce i duša kada ja viđu moje otečestvo tako složno i kada viđu toliko njihovo počitanije k našemu carju i blagodjetelju i k njihovijema starješinama i glavarima, ali kakva će mi jošt i ovo radost biti kada viđu moje otečestvo đe napreduje u naukama i procvjetava prosvješčenijem i kada ga viđu da počne izlezati svoje prosvješčene i vjerne sinove, koji će ga umjeti braniti ne samo oružjem nego i perom umnim.
....I have the privilege to inform you how Montenegrins are coming to a mutual consensus with one another just as they did during the time when the recently-departed Metropolitan's elevation into sainthood was announced, though since then we have established a national governing body of 180 people, of whom 16 are senators and 164 enforcers (police), who are compelled to listen to the will of the people, always respecting the aged and having incumbants themsleves obeying the law. It warms my heart and soul to see my constituents so united and with such reverence and respect towards our tsar and benefactor and towards their elders and leaders, but what a greater happiness will I feel when my people begin to advance in the sciences and bloom intellectually and when all this bears fruit and their sons will not only be able to defend themselves with arms but with the might of their pen, too.
Ivan Vukotić became the first President of the Senate, while Mateja Vučićević became its first Vice-president. The Senate's seat was in Cetinje
Cetinje
Cetinje , Цетиње / Cetinje , Italian: Cettigne, Greek: Κετίγνη, Ketígni) is a town and Old Royal Capital of Montenegro. It is also a historical and the secondary capital of Montenegro , with the official residence of the President of Montenegro...
, while the Guard's Headquarters were in Rijeka Crnojevića
Rijeka Crnojevića
Rijeka Crnojevića is a city settlement in Montenegro beside the river of Crnojević - near the coast of Skadar lake.It is part of Old Royal Capital Cetinje.With 300 citizens, Rijeka Crnojevića is seat of Riječka nahija....
. Petar II was present on every assembly of the Senate except judgments of capital sentences, in which he was forbidden to participate by the canon law. Prince-Bishop Petar II later named captains to monitor the Serb clans
Serb clans
Serb clans is a general term referring to what are known as plemena and bratstva , traditional geo-political units of the Western Balkans that now richly attest social anthropology and family history . The descendants of the clans are divided by regional and lately, national affiliation...
in his domain and to act as his representatives to the clans, and he as well also created the Grenadiers (Perjanici) - the Prince-Bishop
Prince-Bishop
A Prince-Bishop is a bishop who is a territorial Prince of the Church on account of one or more secular principalities, usually pre-existent titles of nobility held concurrently with their inherent clerical office...
's personal elite guard. He also formed a special Border Militia ( or Пандури) to patrol the borders of Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
.
Up to 1832, Petar fully cancelled governorship, therefore affirming full power over Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
. Petar II renamed the Praviteljstvo suda (institutional court) into Praviteljstvujušći sovjet (institutional council), expanding its powers from just courtial to also management.
The inauguration of taxes followed suit—in 1833.
Prince-Bishop Petar II wanted to raise Montenegro's international prestige. In order to achieve that, after a brief stop in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, he visited the Russian Czardom
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
in 1833, where he was accepted into Ecclesiastical service as Prince-Bishop
Prince-Bishop
A Prince-Bishop is a bishop who is a territorial Prince of the Church on account of one or more secular principalities, usually pre-existent titles of nobility held concurrently with their inherent clerical office...
of Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, the Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
's capital. In 1833, just before his journey to Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, Serbian Orthodox Christian
Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches, ranking sixth in order of seniority after Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Russia...
Bishop of Užice
Užice
Užice is a city and municipality in western Serbia, located at the banks of the Đetinja river. It is the administrative center of the Zlatibor District...
gifted him Danica of Vuk Stefanović Karadžić
Vuk Stefanovic Karadžic
Vuk Stefanović Karadžić was a Serbian philolog and linguist, the major reformer of the Serbian language, and deserves, perhaps, for his collections of songs, fairy tales, and riddles to be called the father of the study of Serbian folklore. He was the author of the first Serbian dictionary...
from 1826.
Peter II has contributed greatly to education by founding the first public Elementary School
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
in Cetinje
Cetinje
Cetinje , Цетиње / Cetinje , Italian: Cettigne, Greek: Κετίγνη, Ketígni) is a town and Old Royal Capital of Montenegro. It is also a historical and the secondary capital of Montenegro , with the official residence of the President of Montenegro...
, Montenegro's capital in 1834. Before that, priests and monks taught school in monasteries benefitting privileged children rather than the whole community. That year, he also opened a printing press
Printing press
A printing press is a device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium , thereby transferring the ink...
in Cetinje specifically for printing scholastic textbooks, his works - the same year it printed the Hermit
Hermit
A hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society.In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament .In the...
of Cetinje
Cetinje
Cetinje , Цетиње / Cetinje , Italian: Cettigne, Greek: Κετίγνη, Ketígni) is a town and Old Royal Capital of Montenegro. It is also a historical and the secondary capital of Montenegro , with the official residence of the President of Montenegro...
-- and for other Serbian authors as well. In 1835, the Montenegrin forces captured a cannon in Žabljak
Žabljak
Žabljak is a small town in northern Montenegro. It has a population of 1,937.Žabljak is the seat of the municipality...
.
In 1836, he paid another visit to the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, again making a short stop in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. The same year, 1836, he published The ABC of the Montenigrin language. In 1838 he also published The Serbian
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
Grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
. He also re-printed the school textbooks originally printed by his uncle Petar I Petrović-Njegoš
Petar I Petrovic-Njegoš
Petar I Petrović Njegoš was the ruler of Montenegro, the Cetinje Episcop of the Serbian Orthodox Church and Exarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church throne. He was the most popular spiritual and military leader from the Petrović dynasty...
The Serbian
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
elementary reading book.
The conflicts with the neighbouring Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
were insignificant - except the epic struggle with The Death of Smail-aga Čengić
The Death of Smail-aga Čengić
The Death of Smail-aga Čengić is an epic poem by Ivan Mažuranić published around 1846. It is based on the real events of Smail-aga Čengić, a Turkish army general that is known for his bravery, but disparged for truculence; the main motif is his death, happening after he engages in a battle against...
in 1840 on Mljetičko. Peter could not achieve the high statehood of his predecessor - the Serbian Orthodox Christian
Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches, ranking sixth in order of seniority after Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Russia...
monasteries of and Stanjevići were bought by the Empire of Austria
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
, while Vranjina
Vranjina
Vranjina is an island in Skadar Lake in the Montenegrin municipality of Podgorica.-About the island:Created by a delta of the Morača River, the island is in the northern part of the lake...
and Lesandro were seized by the Pasha
Pasha
Pasha or pascha, formerly bashaw, was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire political system, typically granted to governors, generals and dignitaries. As an honorary title, Pasha, in one of its various ranks, is equivalent to the British title of Lord, and was also one of the highest titles in...
of Skadar
Shkodër
Shkodër , is a city located on Lake of Shkoder in northwestern Albania in the District of Shkodër, of which it is the capital. It is one of the oldest and most historic towns in Albania, as well as an important cultural and economic centre. Shkodër's estimated population is 90,000; if the...
. Although Peter II always supported rebels against the Ottoman authority and gladly went to openly fight the Ottomans
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, Russia's peaceful policy towards the Ottoman Empire meant that no larger martial success could be undertaken.
In 1842, Prince-Bishop Peter II constructed another elementary school - in Dobrsko Selo—near Cetinje. On the 11 June 1842, the Prince of Serbia Mihailo Obrenović
Mihailo Obrenovic III, Prince of Serbia
Mihailo Obrenović was Prince of Serbia from 1839–1842 and again from 1860–1868. His first reign ended when he was deposed in 1842 and his second when he was assassinated in 1868.-Early life and first reign:...
and the Serbian Literature Society elected him as an "Honorable Member" as a reward for his merits in literature and education of the Montenegrin people. Later, in 1845, he was declared the Metropolitan
Metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...
of Cetinje
Cetinje
Cetinje , Цетиње / Cetinje , Italian: Cettigne, Greek: Κετίγνη, Ketígni) is a town and Old Royal Capital of Montenegro. It is also a historical and the secondary capital of Montenegro , with the official residence of the President of Montenegro...
. The same year, 1845, Peter II published the Ray of the Microcosm, an impressive, masterfully written philosophical work. In 1846, Peter wrote a collection of Montenegrin national poems - the Serbian mirror in honor of one of the greatest Russian writers - Pushkin.
In 1846 and 1847, Peter II was in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, the Austrian Imperial
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
capital. There, he published in 1847 The Mountain Wreath
The Mountain Wreath
The Mountain Wreath is a poem and a play, a masterpiece of Montenegrin and Serbian literature, written by Montenegrin Prince-Bishop and poet Petar II Petrović-Njegoš.Njegoš wrote The Mountain Wreath during 1846 in Cetinje and published it the following year after the...
- his most famous work. The same year, 1847, Njegoš wrote the Pseudo Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
Stephen the Small, where he described the life of the first uniter and ruler of modern Montenegro - Tsar Stephen the Small from the 18th century.
In 1848, the government of the Principality of Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
sent
him the proposal of unification of Serbs, Croats and Bulgarians. Petar agreed but said:
- Serbdom has to unite first. I will, then, to my Patriarchate of PećPecPeć or Pejë is a city and municipality in north-western Kosovo and Metohija - Serbia, and the administrative centre of the homonymous district. Governor of city is Ali Berisha....
and Serbian Prince to Prizren. Spiritual authority to me and secular to him, over the nation free and united.
In late 1848 and early 1849, Prince-Bishop Peter II assisted the Revolutionary fights of Croatian Ban
Ban of Croatia
Ban of Croatia was the title of local rulers and after 1102 viceroys of Croatia. From earliest periods of Croatian state, some provinces were ruled by Bans as a rulers representative and supreme military commander. In the 18th century, Croatian bans eventually become chief government officials in...
Josip Jelačić
Josip Jelacic
Count Josip Jelačić of Bužim was the Ban of Croatia between 23 March 1848 and 19 May 1859...
and maintained close ties with the Principality of Serbia. Although Peter II's outer policy completely relied on Russia, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
maintained good relations with the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
- so nothing more than a reconciliation with the Ottomans
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
could be achieved.
In 1851, Prince-Bishop Petar II minted a Montenegrin
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
currency
Currency
In economics, currency refers to a generally accepted medium of exchange. These are usually the coins and banknotes of a particular government, which comprise the physical aspects of a nation's money supply...
: Perun
Montenegrin perun
The perun was the currency that was planned for introduction in Montenegro by Petar II Petrović Njegoš in 1851. However, he died the same year, and Montenegro remained without a currency until the 1906 introduction of the perper by Nicholas I of Montenegro...
. Petar named it by the supreme Slavic mythic god
Perun
In Slavic mythology, Perun is the highest god of the pantheon and the god of thunder and lightning. His other attributes were the fire, mountains, the oak, iris, eagle, firmament , horses and carts, weapons and war...
.
In 1851, Peter II caught tuberculosis. He paid a visit to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
the same year, 1851, attempting to find a cure, but to no avail. Then he hurried to Vienna—hoping to anticipate Omer Pasha's invasion of Montenegro. He wished to go to the Russian Tsar. However, he was refused. The Russians made an execuse that the trip would be strenuous in view of his health—a transparently insulting affront to the sick Sovereign of Montenegro. Njegoš did not live to see his invasion of Montenegro in 1853, the dread year of Omer Pasha, but he foresaw as early as 1851 all the horrow that it held in store for a hungry, poor, unprepared land. Montenegro was to be saved from destruction by the intervention of the Great Powers, an intervention that did not come too late thanks only to the heroic resistance of the Montenegrins and Prince Danilo.
Njegoš failed to accomplish anything in Vienna. While waiting for the inane and ambiguous replies of the slow Russian bureaucracy and the inconsiderate consideration of Vienna, he was overtaken by the sultry summer and the rapid worsening of his illness.
He remained in Vienna nearly two months and met Milica Stojadinović Srpkinja, Branko Radičević
Branko Radicevic
Branko Radičević , an influential Serbian poet, within a short space of time contrived to enhance Serbian literature with several perennially attractive poems.- Biography:...
himself ill with tuberculosis (he was to outlive Njegoš by one year). Also in Vienna were Vuk Karadžić, Anastas Jovanović
Anastas Jovanovic
Anastas Jovanović was the first Serbian photographer of his time to treat photography as an art form and to capture on film historical events as they were happening. He was the author of the first photographic pantheon of the most significant events and people of his time...
, Ludwig August Frankl and jurist Francesco Carrara
Francesco Carrara (jurist)
Francesco Carrara was an Italian jurist and liberal politician. He was one of the leading criminal law scholars and death penalty abolition advocates in 19th century Europe....
, who all came to pay their respect. In Vienna he was treated by Dr. Joseph Škoda, a renowned physician in his day. The same year, 1851, he managed to publish his last major work - Pseudo Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
Stephen the Small. Peter II Njegoš died in Cetinje
Cetinje
Cetinje , Цетиње / Cetinje , Italian: Cettigne, Greek: Κετίγνη, Ketígni) is a town and Old Royal Capital of Montenegro. It is also a historical and the secondary capital of Montenegro , with the official residence of the President of Montenegro...
of tuberculosis on - exactly 21 years after his accession to the throne; he was buried in a small chapel on top of Mount Lovćen
Mount Lovcen
Lovćen is a mountain and national park in southwestern Montenegro.The Mount Lovćen rises from the borders of the Adriatic basin closing the long ang twisting bays of Boka Kotorska and making the hinterland to the coastal town of Kotor...
where his mausoleum was built. During the period of Communist rule in Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
it was demolished for ideological reasons by the authorities to make way for a secular monument.
Letters
Among the principal delights of Njegoš's life were his friendships—especially those with politicians, writers, and poets (among whom Milica Stojadinović Srpkinja was one), if we judge by the number of letters he wrote them. Many of these letters he probably would not have minded seeing in print, for they reflect the same literary genius as his published works in other genres. His letters have the cadence and colour of his imaginative verse because he gave to all types of writing the full force of his creative genius. In this he was unlike other writers, who use up their primary strength in plays, poems and novels, and turn in a weary manner to the task of correspondence in some spare corner of a day. But to Njegoš both official and personal communication was a necessity that involved his whole being. And although his letters are astoundingly abundant, particularly for a man who died so young, most of them display the imagination of a poet, the challenge of a wise seer, and the strength of a man implicated religiously in a struggle for freedom and independence.On April 14, 1849 Njegoš wrote to Alexander Karađorđević, Prince of Serbia, what he thought of the 1848 Revolution in the Austrian Empire:
The Serbian Duchy (Vojvodina
Vojvodina
Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...
) is standing on weak legs, and even were it to become entirely free of the Magyars, there would be in it no advantage whatever for Serbdom inasmuch as the Serbs are not fighting for themselves but for someone else.
On October 5, 1851 Njegoš replied to Vuk Stefanović Karadžić that he had received Ludwig August Frankl's Gusle and Branko Radičević
Branko Radicevic
Branko Radičević , an influential Serbian poet, within a short space of time contrived to enhance Serbian literature with several perennially attractive poems.- Biography:...
's Pesme (Poems) with his letter, and then suddenly he added:
I would write a fine answer to your letter if death would let me, but in view of the condition I am in, even this much is enough, for when the body suffers and groans, the soul is tempest-tossed.
His thoughts
Njegoš's main themes were man's destiny, marked by struggle and suffering, and freedom, which he understood as partly the struggle for national liberty. The elaboration of these themes led him to many philosophical thoughts and meditations. Being predominantly a poet, he presented these thoughts in poetic images and visions. The philosophical conception implicit in these images is a PlatonicPlatonic
Plato's influence on Western culture was so profound that several different concepts are linked by being called "platonic" or Platonist, for accepting some assumptions of Platonism, but which do not imply acceptance of that philosophy as a whole....
dualism
Dualism
Dualism denotes a state of two parts. The term 'dualism' was originally coined to denote co-eternal binary opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been diluted in general or common usages. Dualism can refer to moral dualism, Dualism (from...
. God and matter are coeternal. Mind and body are opposed principles both ontologically and axiologically. Mind originates in heaven, whereas body belongs to the "realm of decay." The body is "the physical shackles of the soul"; passions "lay man below the beast," whereas mind makes him "equal to immortals" (Canto 1: 199-200). In Luca Mikrokozma Njegoš interpreted the union of mind and body as a consequence of sin and the Fall. The first man, Adam, was once pure spirit, but he joined Satan in his rebellion against God, although he soon repented. He was then "clad in a body" and cast upon the earth, which was created by God as a place of expiation after man's sin. Thus, Njegoš's Adam, unlike Milton's or the Adam of official church doctrine, sinned prior to his bodily creation.
Njegoš, therefore, showed the necessity for human struggle and suffering in his epic religious poem Luca mikrokozma ("The Ray of the Microcosm," 1845) and made them profoundly meaningful in his other great poem. Gorski Vjenac ("The Mountain Wreath," 1847) is a mighty hymn to the national struggle for liberation and to the struggle against evil in general. To justify this struggle he elaborated a dynamic and basically dialectical conception of the world. The world is made up of opposed and dangerous forces at permanent war. Through this struggle, order emerges out of chaotic disorder, and spiritual power triumphs over great confusion. Struggle and suffering are not mere evils but have a positive, creative aspect as well. The spark appears only after the flint is struck hard, and the soul that has endured temptations "nourishes the body with internal fire." Heroism is the master of evil, and human life has an aim only if it contributes to the realization of liberty, honour, and dignity. His ethics were essentially derived from his people and, in turn, had a powerful influence on them in all trying moments of their history.
According to Njegoš, difficulties and suffering help to forge the human soul. Without effort and sacrifice nothing really great can be accomplished; even a good song cannot be created without pain. So man should not hesitate to fight against evil and tyranny and to overcome any fear. This heroic philosophy corrsponded to the attitudes of all Serbs in difficult situation and set forth a moral ideal which enormously influenced their behaviour.
The Ray of the Microcosm
Njegoš wrote The Ray of the Microcosm in 1845 as an original, free and independent version of MiltonJohn Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
's Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse...
, which he probably knew from a French translation; and while this did not garner the popularity of The Mountain Wreath, it is just as great and easily the finest philosophical poem in the Serbian language. The premise of The Ray is the myth of man's first sin. Njegoš's Adam
Adam
Adam is a figure in the Book of Genesis. According to the creation myth of Abrahamic religions, he is the first human. In the Genesis creation narratives, he was created by Yahweh-Elohim , and the first woman, Eve was formed from his rib...
is a fallen angel while Milton adheres to the Bible with all his Puritanical puritanism.
Veselin Čajkanović
Veselin Cajkanovic
Veselin Čajkanović was a Serbian classical scholar, religious history scholar, and Greek and Latin translator.-Biography:...
was successful in recording folk tales about how God had created men with wings. There is a fable in Montenegro about the evil Tsar Dukljan—the Serbian name for Diocletian
Diocletian
Diocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....
-- who had enslaved men and rebelled against God, defeating even his blessed servants. According to the tale, Dukljan, like Njegoš's Satan, was immortal, and only God was capable of disciplining him—by placing him in fetters. This tale, though it clearly deals with primeval life of man, may have had an influence on Njegoš because his motifs of evil and the kingdom of darkness are more clearly defined and more profound, harkening back to the primeval cosmic struggle between light and darkness.
The German scholar Alois Schmaus, on the other hand, arrived at the conclusion that Njegosh differed from Milton in something fundamental: Milton's Adam violates God's commandments as the first man, while Njegoš's Adam is a fallen angel who had existed in heaven, but who, because of his participation in Satan's rebellion, was cast upon the earth to atone for his transgression. Schmaus traced Njegoš's influences to the East—to Plato and to those earliest Christian teachings which were still under the influence of the Greek Idealist philosophy.
Proceeding from a different standpoint, Njegoš's religion, Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović was the first to point out the originality of The Ray of the Microcosm while Isidora Sekulić
Isidora Sekulic
Isidora Sekulić was a famous Serbian prose writer, novelist, essayist, adventurer, polyglot and art critic....
confirmed the poetic-philosophical independence of Njegoš's poem.
The Ray, set in the framework of a Homeric story told with Biblical characters, though written in the early nineteenth century, transcends time. Both Greek myths and Biblical stories generally have been better known to Eastern European readers through Njegoš than through any other ancient source. Njegoš confronts the myth of man's original sin and the main issue of Christianity, which raises the question, can man account for his actions? Njegosh views (as stated before) draw from the early church fathers of the East, and, still earlier than them, the father of philosophy (Plato). As Njegoš tells it, Adam is a fallen angel who revolted along with Satan and then abandoned the latter on the third day of the War in Heaven, while the battle was still in doubt. In other words, Njegosh conceives of man as having existed before the Fall, so that ideas preceded man and goodness preexisted as well. God regards Adam as too black for Heaven and too white for Hell, and so creates Earth as a purgatorial prison for him—a world combining elements of both Heaven and Hell—in which he may work out his punishment and purification. Man's tšragic lot on earth is thus not due to the eating of a forbidden fruit but rather to the misbehavior of an angelic Adam before the Earth was ever created. In Njegoš, there is scarcely any idealization of Satan, as with Serfino della Salandra (Adamo Caduto) and John Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
(Paradise Lost), and his portrayal of God is much less clearly anthropomorphic. After all, Njegoš found man, not God, to be historically evolving. Though Milton descried himself as a believer, his beliefs, however were suspect; and it is clear that a number of Gnostic beliefs had crept into his religious system. Unlike Milton's Paradise Lost and Blake
Blake
Blake is a surname or a given name which originated from Old English. Its derivation is uncertain; it could come from "blac", a nickname for someone who had dark hair or skin, or from "blaac", a nickname for someone with pale hair or skin. Another theory is that it is a corruption of "Ap Lake",...
's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Njegoš's apocryphon
Apocryphon
"Apocryphon" , plural apocrypha, was a Greek term for a genre of Jewish and Early Christian writings that were meant to impart "secret teachings" or gnosis that could not be publicly taught...
is an unusual one and deserves to be better known. Njegoš's importance in the world in general, and in world literature in particular, also beckons to be recognized.
Serbian Mirror
Also, in the year 1845, Njegoš published a collection of sixty-one folk poems in the style of an anthology, entitled Serbian Mirror (Ogledalo Srpsko). This reference book is about the "heroic feats and battles for liberation" fought by the Serbs of Montenegro. Serbian Mirror was dedicated to Pushkin and contained several of Njegos's best patriotic poems, according to his critics.The Mountain Wreath
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
converts who were menacing the integrity of the Montenegrin Christians. The so-called massacre provides the conflict between Montenegrins and the Turks and its resolution, while behind it echo centuries of woe and the struggle of the Serbian nation to free itself not only from Ottoman rule but from all foreign domination. Moreover, through poetic license, "the massacre" becomes a real expression, a reflection of the fundamental cosmic struggle and the laws of that struggle which hold relentless sway over the world of men. The concrete events are Montenegrin, the backdrop and the cause are Serbian, but in everything and over everything are the absolute laws. Njegoš describes all the different types of his common mountain people. There is Bishop Danilo, more a man of thought than of action, the aged and blind monk Stephen with his wisdom of experience, the various heads of the different clans, and in contrast to them the representatives of the Muslim Montenegrins and the Turkish vizier
Vizier
A vizier or in Arabic script ; ; sometimes spelled vazir, vizir, vasir, wazir, vesir, or vezir) is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in a Muslim government....
, all formerly Christians. Yet it is more than a fabricated tale of a mountain feud
Feud
A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight between parties—often groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one party perceives itself to have been attacked, insulted or wronged by another...
culminating in a Christian victory, for Njegoš knew how to merge it in a truly Shakespearean sense with the highest aspirations and thoughts of humanity. The pictures of the celebration of the Serb name-day, the Slava
Slava
The Slava , also called Krsna Slava and Krsno ime , is the Serbian Orthodox tradition of the ritual celebration and veneration of a family's own patron saint. The family celebrates the Slava annually on the patron saint's feast day...
, the dancing of the kolo
Kolo
Koło is a town on the Warta River in central Poland with 23,101 inhabitants . It is situated in the Greater Poland Voivodship , having previously been in Konin Voivodship , and it is the capital of Koło County.-Early history:...
, and the frequent allusions to the battle of Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
, all make it in a broad panorama of the times.
Historian Ilarion Ruvarac
Ilarion Ruvarac
Ilarion Ruvarac was historian and Orthodox priest, a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts . Ruvarac introduced the critical methods into Serbian historiography. He was archimandrite of Grgeteg monastery...
was the first to prove that the so-called massacre as described in The Mountain Wreath had never taken place.
It was historian, Vladimir Ćorović
Vladimir Corovic
Vladimir Ćorović was a 20th-century Serbian historian, member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts . He is best known for his many acclaimed works on the history of Serbs and Yugoslavia.-Early:...
, who definitively explained Njegoš's verse.
In the decasyllabic line of folk poetry, almost without exception the ninth syllable, that is, the first syllable of the fifth foot, is either a long accented syllable or an unaccented one, as in the following cases:
I shall take thee now for mine own darling...
To the tsar thou shalt give salutation...
This is natural: the chanter lets his voice drop on the ninth syllable in order to take breath for the next verse he must sing. In the folk decasyllabic line trochaic meters predominate over the dactylic.
In the poem Baranović Strahinja the ratio between them is, according to Ćorović, 74:26, and this is approximately the same with the other poems of the guslars. Besides, the folk poetry as a rule has neither imagery nor Leonine verse.
The False Tsar Stephen the Small
Irritated by the phenomenon of pretenderPretender
A pretender is one who claims entitlement to an unavailable position of honour or rank. Most often it refers to a former monarch, or descendant thereof, whose throne is occupied or claimed by a rival, or has been abolished....
s in his day, and their acceptance, Njegoš considered it his mission as an enlightened ruler to instruct some of his unenlightened and credulous folk by writing this poetic drama. It was a harmful feature of Montenegrin life then, just as it is today (Antonije Abramović
Antonije Abramovic
Metropolitan Antonije, was the first Metropolitan of the uncanonical Montenegrin Orthodox Church and self-proclaimed Metropolitan of Montenegro....
and Miras Dedeic
Miraš Dedeic
Miraš Dedeić , also known as Metropolitan Mihailo, is the head of the uncanonical Montenegrin Orthodox Church since 1997...
). It also hurt Njegoš as a ruler who had to organize all forces toward liberation from the Turks and others. Njegoš kept in mind such pretenders who found fertile soil in a Montenegro caught between myth and the concrete exigencies of the struggle against the Turks and the West as he wrote Stephen the Small. The result was one of the greatest trilogies of the early nineteenth century, full of the fury and dark passion from which emerged the mysterious historic figure known to so few as Scepan Mali
Šcepan Mali
"Tsar" Šćepan Mali was a ruler of Montenegro from 1767 until his death in 1773. He seized the throne by falsely representing himself as the Russian Tsar Peter III.-Biography:Šćepan Mali was a farmer from Dalmatia...
. Spanning the years from 1767 to 1774, the epic poem begins with the false Stephen who usurped the reins of government from Bishop Sava II Petrović-Njegoš
Sava II Petrovic-Njegoš
Sava II Petrović Njegoš was the Vladika of Montenegro, of the Petrović-Njegoš Dynasty. He succeeded Danilo I as Vladika in 1735....
, Petar II's uncle. Stephen, whom the Montenegrins accepted as the murdered Russian Tsar Peter III, is not an unscrupulous, ambitious person whose lust for power is so compelling that, in order to achieve his ends he would betray his country to enemies. Instead, the impostor attempts to create a civil government in Montenegro. That attempt would bring down on Montenegro a Turkish and Venetian campaign, which served only to point up the significance of both his personality and his work. Njegoš perceived Stephen's ambivalence: a fraud, yet a sensible one who spoke wisely and gave counsel beneficial both for the people and for the cause of Serbian and Slav emancipation.
Somewhere in 1851 Njegoš placed at the head of his Stephen the Small the well-known verses:
Do not ask how one doth cross himself,
Rather ask which blood doth warm his breast,
Whose the milk upon which he was fed.
Njegoś's desire, at that very time, was to stress the vital idea of the unification of the South Slavs. For him this idea was something higher and deeper than a political aim; it was the union of people ordained to share the same fate, nurtured with the same milk, and warmed by the same blood, as he put it.
It is interesting to note that Njegoš was helped in his research for documents which he used in Stephen the Small by Niccolò Tommaseo
Niccolò Tommaseo
Niccolò Tommaseo was an Italian Dalmatian linguist, journalist and essayist, the editor of a Dizionario della Lingua Italiana in eight volumes , of a dictionary of synonyms and other works...
, who was himself suspected by the Austrian authorities to be one of the leaders of the democratic and anti-Austrian movement in Venice at the time.
Other works
- Hermit of Cetinje (written in CetinjeCetinjeCetinje , Цетиње / Cetinje , Italian: Cettigne, Greek: Κετίγνη, Ketígni) is a town and Old Royal Capital of Montenegro. It is also a historical and the secondary capital of Montenegro , with the official residence of the President of Montenegro...
in 1833; printed in 1834 in CetinjeCetinjeCetinje , Цетиње / Cetinje , Italian: Cettigne, Greek: Κετίγνη, Ketígni) is a town and Old Royal Capital of Montenegro. It is also a historical and the secondary capital of Montenegro , with the official residence of the President of Montenegro...
; ) - Cure for Turkish Fury (1834, CetinjeCetinjeCetinje , Цетиње / Cetinje , Italian: Cettigne, Greek: Κετίγνη, Ketígni) is a town and Old Royal Capital of Montenegro. It is also a historical and the secondary capital of Montenegro , with the official residence of the President of Montenegro...
; ) - The voice of the stone-cutter (1834, CetinjeCetinjeCetinje , Цетиње / Cetinje , Italian: Cettigne, Greek: Κετίγνη, Ketígni) is a town and Old Royal Capital of Montenegro. It is also a historical and the secondary capital of Montenegro , with the official residence of the President of Montenegro...
; ) - A Serb thanks the Serbs for honour (1834, CetinjeCetinjeCetinje , Цетиње / Cetinje , Italian: Cettigne, Greek: Κετίγνη, Ketígni) is a town and Old Royal Capital of Montenegro. It is also a historical and the secondary capital of Montenegro , with the official residence of the President of Montenegro...
; ) - Ode to the Assertion to the Throne of Ferdinand IFerdinand I of AustriaFerdinand I was Emperor of Austria, President of the German Confederation, King of Hungary and Bohemia , as well as associated dominions from the death of his father, Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, until his abdication after the Revolutions of 1848.He married Maria Anna of Savoy, the sixth child...
as Emperor of AustriaEmperor of AustriaThe Emperor of Austria was a hereditary imperial title and position proclaimed in 1804 by the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, and continually held by him and his heirs until the last emperor relinquished power in 1918. The emperors retained the title of...
and Hungarian KingKing of HungaryThe King of Hungary was the head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 to 1918.The style of title "Apostolic King" was confirmed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 and used afterwards by all the Kings of Hungary, so after this date the kings are referred to as "Apostolic King of...
(1835, CetinjeCetinjeCetinje , Цетиње / Cetinje , Italian: Cettigne, Greek: Κετίγνη, Ketígni) is a town and Old Royal Capital of Montenegro. It is also a historical and the secondary capital of Montenegro , with the official residence of the President of Montenegro...
; ) - Three days in TriesteTriesteTrieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
in the month of January in 1844 (ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, ArmeniaArmeniaArmenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
n MonasteryMonasteryMonastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
, 1844; ) - Light of Microcosm (1845, BelgradeBelgradeBelgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
) - Serbian Mirror (1846, BelgradeBelgradeBelgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
; ) - The Mountain WreathThe Mountain WreathThe Mountain Wreath is a poem and a play, a masterpiece of Montenegrin and Serbian literature, written by Montenegrin Prince-Bishop and poet Petar II Petrović-Njegoš.Njegoš wrote The Mountain Wreath during 1846 in Cetinje and published it the following year after the...
(English translation) (1847, ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
; ) - The Tower of Đurišić and the Castle of Aleksić (1850, ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
; ) - False Tsar Stephen the Little (written 1847, 1851, TriesteTriesteTrieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
; ) - Song of Freedom (1854, ZemunZemunZemun is a historical town and one of the 17 municipalities which constitute the City of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia...
, posthumously; ) - Njegoš's Accords (1956, CetinjeCetinjeCetinje , Цетиње / Cetinje , Italian: Cettigne, Greek: Κετίγνη, Ketígni) is a town and Old Royal Capital of Montenegro. It is also a historical and the secondary capital of Montenegro , with the official residence of the President of Montenegro...
, Historical Institute, posthumously; )
See also
- House of Petrović-NjegošHouse of Petrovic-NjegošThe House of Petrović-Njegoš was the Royal House of Montenegro from 1696 to 1918. Montenegro had enjoyed de facto independence from the Ottoman Empire from 1711 but only received formal international recognition as an independent principality in 1878.Montenegro was ruled from inception by...
- History of MontenegroHistory of MontenegroThe History of Montenegro begins in the early Middle Ages, into the former Roman province of Dalmatia that forms present-day Montenegro.-Illyria:...
- Montenegrin perunMontenegrin perunThe perun was the currency that was planned for introduction in Montenegro by Petar II Petrović Njegoš in 1851. However, he died the same year, and Montenegro remained without a currency until the 1906 introduction of the perper by Nicholas I of Montenegro...