Petar II Petrović-Njegoš
Petar II Petrović-Njegoš | |
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Петар II Петровић-Његош | |
Mount Lovćen , Montenegro | |
philosophical literature |
Petar II Petrović-Njegoš (
Njegoš was born in the village of
Early life and origins
Petar II Petrović-Njegoš was born Radivoje "Rade" Petrović on 13 November [
Njeguši is a remote village, situated near the
Njegoš spent his early years in Njeguši shepherding his father's flock, playing the
Reign
Historical background
Nineteenth-century Montenegrin society was quite primitive even by contemporary standards.
Before the 19th century, western Montenegro was nothing more than a cluster of feuding tribes presided over by the Metropolitans of Cetinje. Montenegrin territory consisted of four small districts (
Although Montenegrin warriors often attributed their country's survival as an independent entity to their own military prowess, journalist
Accession
Petar I's final years were defined by his deteriorating health and continuing inability to find a successor—ideally both a Petrović and a literate monk—capable of carrying on his role. Petar's first candidate was Mitar M. Petrović, the son of his eldest brother Stjepan. Within several years, the younger Petrović died and Petar was forced to find a different successor. He turned his attention to Đorđije S. Petrović, his middle brother's son. As Đorđije was illiterate, Petar sent him to Saint Petersburg to attend school. Once there, Đorđije realized that he preferred living in Russia over Montenegro. In 1828, he sent his uncle a letter from Saint Petersburg informing him that he wished to enroll into the Imperial Russian Army and asking to be relieved of succession. In 1829, Petar informed Jeremija Gagić, an ethnic Serb who served as the Russian vice-consul in Dubrovnik and was in charge of all of Russia's dealings with Montenegro, that Đorđije had his permission to enter the Russian military, depriving him of his right to the throne.[18]
It was only then that Petar entertained the possibility of extending his throne to the teenaged Njegoš and took steps to further his education. The seventeen-year-old was again sent to the Cetinje Monastery and mentored at
The day after Petar's death, all of Montenegro's chieftains met in Cetinje to confirm the new vladika. According to one account, there were several chieftains who did not wish to see Njegoš bestowed the title.
Crushing dissent (1830–32)
Whispers of conspiracy
The Radonjićes traditionally opposed Montenegro's close ties with Russia, advocating a closer relationship with Austria instead. This pro-Austrian orientation dated to the fall of the
In late November 1830, Radonjić wrote to vice-consul Gagić in Dubrovnik complaining about Cetinje's inability to hold the tribes together and the anarchy that was sweeping through the countryside. This apparently led him to conspire with the Austrians to have Njegoš removed from his throne and have him replaced by his cousin, Đorđije. On orders from Franjo Tomašić, the governor of the Kingdom of Dalmatia, the commander of Fort Dubrovnik met Radonjić at Kotor on 27–28 November [O.S. 16–17 November] 1830. Radonjić left Montenegro without informing Njegoš or the other chieftains, raising much suspicion. His meeting with the Austrian commander did not remain a secret for very long. On 28 November, a group of Montenegrins who happened to be visiting Kotor noticed Radonjić in the company of a few Austrian officers. They stormed the house where the meeting was taking place, exchanged obscenities with Radonjić and hurried back to Cetinje to report on what they had seen; Njegoš was furious. In a letter to Gagić dated 4 December [O.S. 23 November], he wrote: "Radonjić [went] to the Kotor hinterland ... without anybody's notice, but on his own ... and there met some imperial general and other imperial men, having in mind to give up Montenegro and place it under their protection thinking that after the late vladika's death there were no sons of Montenegro allied to glorious Russia."[27]
Elimination of the Radonjićes
As soon as they heard the news of Radonjić's dealings in Kotor, the chieftains called for an urgent council to decide what was to be done with him. Radonjić faced the chieftains on 29 November [
Radonjić, who was exiled to the coast, continued to have treasonous correspondence with the Austrians in Kotor. When some of his letters to the Austrian officials were discovered, he was apprehended by Njegoš's warriors, taken back to Cetinje and put on trial for treason alongside his brother Marko on 16 January [O.S. 5 January] 1832. The two were accused of inciting Serbs to flee from Montenegro and settle in neighbouring Austrian lands, and of conspiring to overthrow Njegoš so that the Radonjićes could surrender Montenegro to the Habsburgs, making it an Austrian protectorate. They were found guilty of treason once again, but this time they were immediately driven into exile. Radonjić died of natural causes on 30 May [O.S. 19 May] 1832, shortly after being forced from Cetinje.[27]
Establishment of the Governing Senate
The beginning of Njegoš' reign was marked by a revival of Montenegro's traditional alliance with Russia. The relationship between the two countries was motivated by the Montenegrins' need to have a powerful ally who could provide political and financial support to their fledgling nation and Russia's desire to exploit Montenegro's strategic location in its ongoing geopolitical battle with Austria. Traditionally, the Serbian Orthodox monastery in Cetinje and the institution of vladika had survived through the centuries because of Russian support, but Petar I's final years witnessed a cooling of Russo–Montenegrin relations. With the Radonjićes expelled, Njegoš abolished the office of guvernadur in 1832. This move did not bring him any new powers, as Russia insisted on the establishment of the Governing Senate (Praviteljstvujuščiji senat) of Montenegro and the Highlands, whose purpose was to limit and regulate the powers of the vladika. Much like the Governing Soviet (Praviteljstvujušči sovjet) in Serbia, most of the senate's members were hand-picked by the Russians because of their political leanings, which were often more favourable to Saint Petersburg than they were to Vienna. Created to replace the kuluk formed by Petar I in 1798, the senate was established by Ivan Vukotić, a Montenegrin-born diplomat in Russian service. He had been sent to Cetinje by the Russian government in 1831, alongside his nephew Matija Vučićević. The two hailed from the Turkish-controlled Zeta Plain and had lived in Russia for much of their lives. They were tasked with establishing a strong central government which could control the country's many tribes. Vukotić was quite wealthy, having inherited a large sum of money from a noble family member, and had experience as a non-commissioned officer in the Russian military.[31]
Aside from having to deal with Russian political interference, Njegoš faced several other limitations to his power. He had no army, militia or police force to enforce the rule of law within the territory he nominally controlled and had to rely on warriors from his own clan for protection. The tribes on the Montenegrin frontier often either refused to obey him or befriended his enemies. Tribal raids, which drove deep into Ottoman-held Herzegovina, occurred frequently and looting proved key to the region's economic survival. Though such raids normally elicited a harsh response from the Ottomans, Njegoš was powerless to stop them.[14]
The creation of the Governing Senate introduced some semblance of order into Montenegrin politics. Vukotić was proclaimed the senate's president and Vučićević became its vice-president. The Montenegrins referred to them as "their Russian lordships". In total, the senate was made up of twelve men who received an annual salary of 40 talirs each. It had legislative, judiciary and executed powers, and was the first state institution in Montenegro's modern history. The possibility of any significant opposition to the senate's creation was extinguished by the appointment of important chieftains and other prominent citizens as senators. Njegoš himself was not a member of the senate, which was completely dominated by Vukotić and Vučićević during the first few years of its existence. The senate's decisions were to be enforced by a military-police organization known as the Gvardija (The Guard). It had regional representatives throughout the tribal territories and its headquarters were situated in Rijeka Crnojevića. All its senior commanders were called captains, and were selected as the most prominent men in their clans. The Gvardija initially had a strength of about 150 warriors, but this number later rose to 420. Russian subsidies ensured that all of its members received their salaries without delay. Central authority was further strengthened by increasing the size of the vladika's personal guard, the Perjanici (or "plumed ones", so called because of the feathers that members wore on their guardsmen's caps).[32]
Battle of Podgorica and early attempts at taxation
In 1832, the nineteen-year-old Njegoš launched an attack against the Muslim tribes of
In response to the defeat at Podgorica, the Montenegrins formed tactical alliances with neighbouring Muslims tribes that were hostile to the Porte. By entering into such alliances Njegoš risked further alienating the Russians, whose support Montenegro still desperately needed. To neutralize any suspicion that Montenegro was acting against Russian interests, Njegoš cultivated a close personal friendship with vice-consul Grujić, who advised the czar that Njegoš was as dependable as ever.[34] In one of his letters to Grujić, Njegoš reported that the final advice Petar I gave him before his death was "pray to God and hold on to Russia".[35]
In 1833, Vukotić introduced regular taxation to Montenegro. As Vukotić, Grujić and Njegoš all realized, without taxes the country had no chance of functioning as a centralized state, let alone one which could raise an independent army or survive without needing to rely on plunder or Russian charity.[36] Even though the rates were low, the tribes fiercely resisted the new laws, which never managed to generate more revenue than funds received through Russian subsidies.[37] Many chieftains refused to levy taxes against their tribes, and some even mockingly called on Njegoš to come and collect them himself.[38]
Journey to Saint Petersburg and consecration
Njegoš left Cetinje in early 1833 and set out on the long journey to Saint Petersburg. He hoped to be granted a meeting with Russian Emperor (czar)
Njegoš returned to Montenegro with the money that the czar had given him, as well as a number of theological books and icons for the Cetinje Monastery. Shortly afterwards, he established the first two elementary schools in Montenegro, one in Cetinje and the other in Dobrsko Selo,[nb 6] and sent sixteen young Montenegrins to pursue higher education in Serbia, seven of whom returned to Montenegro after finishing school. They were among the few literate people in the country. Njegoš also brought home a modern printing press, the first in Montenegro since the time of the Crnojević dynasty more than 300 years earlier. It was transported from Saint Petersburg in its entirety and had to be carried through the precarious mountain passes of Montenegro to the Cetinje Monastery, where it was finally set up. Although nearly all Montenegrins were illiterate, Njegoš persisted in establishing a periodical which he named Grlica (The Turtledove) and used the press to print some of his own poems, as well as works by Milutinović and Karadžić. Grlica did not last long, and fell out of circulation in 1839. The printing press survived until 1852, when its type was melted down to make bullets to fight the Turks.[44]
Canonization of Petar I, taxpayer revolt and the Battle of Grahovo
While Njegoš was in Vienna and Russia in 1833, Vukotić took advantage of the vladika's prolonged absence to increase his own power. Njegoš quickly moved to push Vukotić aside, installing his own brother Pero as senate leader and their cousin Đorđije—who had recently returned from Saint Petersburg—as Pero's deputy. Vukotić and Vučićević were exiled to Russia. There, they spread countless rumours about Njegoš in an attempt to tarnish his reputation.[45] While their actions threatened to ruin his image abroad, Njegoš was far more concerned about domestic discontent with his tax policies. He reasoned that his pious and overly superstitious citizens would not protest taxation as fiercely if the Petrovićes boasted a saint who was of the same bloodline. Hence, he arranged for the canonization of the late Petar I on the fourth anniversary of his death, in October 1834. With a saint in his family, Njegoš could now threaten any Montenegrin who challenged his authority with spiritual sanctions. Most Montenegrins were greatly enthusiastic about Petar's canonization, and many flocked to his tomb in Cetinje to celebrate the event. While Njegoš was now in a more stable position than he was two years earlier, he still encountered several challenges to his rule. He was criticized for allegedly misappropriating the funds given to him by the Russians, and a tribal rebellion in Crmnica and Riječka nahiya erupted in response to the demands of tax collectors and chronic food shortages. The revolt was crushed by Njegoš's cousins Đorđije and Stanko, but the allegations of fund misappropriation further tarnished his reputation among the Russians.[46]
In early August 1836, the vizier of the
Second visit to Russia
News of the defeat at Grahovo soon reached Saint Petersburg and, paired with the allegations of financial misappropriation, cemented his reputation among the Russians as that of an aggressive provocateur. Njegoš immediately sought permission from the chieftains to travel to Saint Petersburg and explain himself before the czar, given that Montenegro was increasingly desperate for Russian financial and political aid. The chieftains gave Njegoš their blessing, and he headed to Vienna before receiving any response from the Russians regarding his initial request. Njegoš was obliged to stay in Vienna for several weeks as the czar contemplated whether to grant him an audience. In Vienna, Njegoš spent more time with Karadžić, who had just returned from researching Slavic linguistic traits in Montenegro and was in the process of writing a German-language ethnographic study on the country titled Montenegro und die Montenegriner ("Montenegro and the Montenegrin"). Njegoš's meetings with Karadžić caught the attention of Austrian Chancellor Klemens von Metternich. Metternich's distrust of Njegoš was exacerbated by the young vladika's request for a visa to travel to France, then considered a breeding ground of radical ideas. Metternich saw to it that the request was denied. In a letter to one of his subordinates, he noted that Njegoš had "spiritually and physically developed". He went on to say that Njegoš had "little respect for the principles of religion and monarchy, is not firm in them, and is given to liberal and revolutionary ideas." He ended his message with a note stating that the Njegoš was to be closely monitored by Austrian agents both abroad and at home.[48]
In 1837, the czar gave Njegoš permission to visit Saint Petersburg, just as a severe famine began to affect Montenegro. Immediately, Njegoš sensed that his second visit to the Russian capital was going to be different from the first. He was not greeted as warmly as he had been in 1833 and the Russians used the opportunity to call him out on several instances of "unmonkish" behaviour, particularly his fondness for being in the company of women.[49] Despite this, Russia increased its annual subsidy and provided wheat to Montenegro's famished citizens. While Montenegro's dependence on Russia often provided the impoverished statelet with desperately needed funding, it was geopolitically disastrous for the Montenegrins, as both the Ottomans and Austrians believed that Montenegrin access to the Adriatic would constitute de facto Russian penetration into the Mediterranean given the nature of Russo−Montenegrin relations.[37]
Modernization efforts
Njegoš stayed in Saint Petersburg for less than a month. He was escorted out of the city by Russian
In 1838, Njegoš hosted Saxon King
Stand-off at Humac and peace negotiations
Clashes between the Christian raia (subject peasantry) and their Ottoman overlords continued following the Battle of Grahovo. In 1838, Njegoš erected a fortress at Humac overlooking Grahovo. The fortress strategically dominated the area, and threatened Ali Pasha's hold on the wider region. Following his second visit to Saint Petersburg, Njegoš was under considerable pressure from the Russians to secure a peace settlement, and the Porte pressure Ali Pasha to do the same. Seeking to avert a wider conflict, Njegoš wrote a letter to Mehmed Pasha Veçihi, the vizier of Bosnia, arguing that Grahovo had been settled by the Montenegrins several generations earlier, that it had paid taxes to the Ottomans for decades while abiding by Montenegrin customary law, and that Muslims and Christians had lived in the area peacefully until Ali Pasha's atrocities two years earlier. Njegoš also sent a letter to Ali Pasha, suggesting that the Turks and Montenegrins restore Grahovo to its former status and offering to guarantee peace in return. In late October, Njegoš met with two envoys representing Ali Pasha and Mehmed Pasha in Cetinje and agreed to a negotiated settlement. The agreement had six points:[57]
- Displaced inhabitants of Grahovo could return to the town unmolested.
- Jakov Daković would be declared the hereditary vojvoda of Grahovo.
- The locals would resume paying taxes to the Turks, which were to be collected by the vojvoda.
- Both the Turks and Montenegrins would be prohibited from erecting any towers or fortifications on the field of Grahovo.
- There was to be "eternal peace" between Montenegro—whose independence the agreement acknowledged—and the eyalets of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- The agreement would be upheld by Njegoš and Mehmed Pasha.
Despite the agreement, Ali Pasha remained unconvinced. The fifth clause indicated that the Ottomans had recognized Montenegro's independence, while the final clause made no mention of Ali Pasha at all. Indeed, Ali Pasha resented what he viewed as Mehmed Pasha's interference in the affairs of the Herzegovina eyalet and began plotting to undermine the agreement. In early 1839, Njegoš sent a delegation consisting of Daković, vojvoda Radovan Piper, reverend Stevan Kovačević and several others to Bosnia to ascertain the exact amount that the people of Grahovo would be paying to the Sultan. Mehmed Pasha received the Montenegrins well, but when the delegation travelled south to Mostar, Ali Pasha had them arrested. Several warriors from Grahovo went to Mostar in the hope of freeing their kinsmen, but were impaled on Ali Pasha's orders. The Grahovo delegates remained in Ottoman custody until May 1839, when they were released following the arrest of several other Montenegrins who then took their place as Ali Pasha's hostages. For his part, Njegoš backed down on his commitment to raze any Montenegrin fortifications overlooking Grahovo and left the Humac fortress intact, ensuring that the agreement between him and Mehmed Pasha was never implemented.[58]
Conspiracy to assassinate Smaïl-aga
Smaïl-aga's contribution to the Ottoman victory at Grahovo was so great that the Porte had granted him a personal
Between 1836 and 1840, relations between Smaïl-aga and the Christian inhabitants of his land had greatly deteriorated. Smaïl-aga's son, Rustem-beg, drank heavily and often raped women from the
The killing of Smaïl-aga set in motion a series of attacks which left many Montenegrins and Turks dead. Anxious to conceal his role in the murder, Ali Pasha pretended to be outraged and ordered an attack on the Drobnjaci. More than seventy Drobnjaci warriors were killed, dozens of homes were torched, wells were poisoned and several women were raped. At the same time, Ali Pasha sought to shore up his own position by removing any pretext for intervention by the Porte. He contacted Njegoš and expressed a willingness to engage in peace negotiations. Njegoš was in a quandary; he knew that by failing to avenge the Drobnjaci he risked alienating a sizeable portion of his countrymen. At the same time, Njegoš realized that such negotiations could increase Montenegro's territory and bring about diplomatic recognition by Austria and the Ottomans, who wanted peace and an end to the continuous skirmishing on the Montenegrin–Turkish frontier.[60] In 1841, in an attempt to legitimize his country and under Russian pressure to normalize relations with Austria, Njegoš reached an agreement with the Austrians defining the Austro–Montenegrin border. Despite the agreement, the Austrians failed to officially recognize Montenegro as a sovereign state, and demanded the Montenegrins' complete withdrawal from the coast in exchange for Montenegrin tribesmen being permitted to seek pasturage for their sheep and cattle in Kotor. The withdrawal required the Montenegrins to give up two historic monasteries (Podmaine and Stanjevići), which the Austrians subsequently purchased for a considerable sum. Despite these concessions, the agreement improved trading between the two sides.[61]
In 1842, Njegoš and Ali Pasha met at a Dubrovnik palace to negotiate peace. The two eventually reached an agreement, which was signed before representatives of Austria and Russia. As Njegoš and Ali Pasha emerged from the palace, Ali Pasha produced a bag full of gold coins and tossed them into the air, prompting the Montenegrin delegation—which included several chiefs—to scramble after as many as possible. Through this action, Ali Pasha effectively demonstrated Montenegro's poverty before the Austrians and Russians, embarrassing Njegoš in the process.[60]
Osman Pasha's invasion of southern Montenegro
Osman Pasha, the vizier of Scutari, was an exceptional politician and military leader. Despite his Serb origin, he held a deep hatred for Montenegro, and Njegoš in particular. As Smaïl-aga's son-in-law, he blamed the Montenegrins for his grisly death, and also wished to follow in the footsteps of his father, Suleiman Pasha, who had played a key role in crushing the First Serbian Uprising in 1813. Osman Pasha invaded southern Montenegro in 1843, and his forces soon seized the strategically important islands of Vranjina and Lesendro on Lake Skadar. The capture of these islands rendered Montenegrin trading excursions to towns such as Podgorica and Scutari nearly impossible. The Porte sensed an opportunity to bring Montenegro in line, and offered to recognize Njegoš as secular ruler of Montenegro if he in turn recognized the Porte's sovereignty over his country. Njegoš refused, and attempted to retake the islands by force. The Montenegrin forces had no artillery to speak of, and each one of their attempts to recapture the islands resulted in failure. Njegoš tried to enlist foreign support, particularly from Russia and France. To Njegoš's surprise, the Russians were not interested in entangling themselves in the dispute. The French, although sympathetic, failed to intervene. The United Kingdom, as it usually did prior to the premiership of William Ewart Gladstone, sided with the Ottomans. When Njegoš attempted to construct ships to retake the islands, the Austrians maneuvered to prevent it, and later refused to supply the munitions needed to arrange a counterattack.[62]
Osman Pasha
A severe drought struck Montenegro in late 1846, followed by a catastrophic famine in 1847. Osman Pasha took advantage of Montenegro's misfortune and promised some of the Montenegrin chieftains large amounts of wheat if they rose up against the Petrovićes. Njegoš was caught off-guard, having spent much of late 1846 in Vienna overseeing the publication of his
Unable to subdue the Ottomans militarily, Njegoš concentrated on eliminating those who had betrayed him and his clan. Several weeks after the insurrection was crushed, he informed Božović that he had forgiven him and gave him his word that he and his two brothers would not be harmed if they returned to Cetinje. The two sides arranged to meet in a small village just outside the town. Instead of going to see the brothers, Njegoš sent several henchmen to meet them on his behalf. The Božovićes were arrested and executed by firing squad; their bodies were put on public display as a warning against further insubordination. In early November, Plamenac was shot to death by a fellow Montenegrin in Ottoman-held territory. The assassin was arrested by the Ottomans, and hanged in Scutari. Njegoš posthumously awarded him an Obilić Medal. Osman Pasha soon incited a second revolt; it was also suppressed and Njegoš had all the rebels shot.[64] He then sent an assassin to Scutari in a failed attempt to have Osman Pasha killed. Osman Pasha subsequently sent a number of his own assassins to kill Njegoš, who survived several attempted poisonings and an attempted bombing of his headquarters. By 1848, the situation on Montenegro's southern border had stabilized.[65]
Role in the rise of South Slav nationalism
By the mid-1840s, the idea of unifying all South Slavs into a common state had gained much support from Serbs, Croats and Bosnian Muslims living in the Austrian Empire. Njegoš's travels to Austria and Italy exposed him to many of the concepts that eventually formed the backbone of the
Last years and death
By 1849, Njegoš began experiencing an incessant cough and soon a doctor from Kotor discovered that he had tuberculosis. By early 1850, it was clear that the condition was life-threatening. Painfully aware that Montenegro did not have a single trained physician, he travelled to Kotor in the spring and composed his last will and testament, intending for it to prevent the power struggle that had preceded his own accession to the position of vladika. He mailed the will to vice-consul Gagić in Dubrovnik with a message asking him to return the document unopened in the event that he regained his health. Njegoš then headed to Venice and Padua, where he spent much time resting and seemingly succeeded in containing his illness. His cough returned after eight days; he left Padova and went back to Montenegro in the hope that the country's fresh mountain air would alleviate his symptoms. He spent the summer of 1850 resting and writing poetry. His condition prevented him from lying down, so he had to keep in a constant upright position, even when sleeping. By November 1850, the cough abated and Njegoš undertook another journey to Italy. He reached Italy in January 1851, and travelled through Venice, Milan, Genoa and Rome. He visited the ruins of Pompeii with Serbian writer Ljubomir Nenadović, and the two men travelled together along Italy's western coast discussing philosophy and contemporary politics. The journey was documented in a book Nenadović published following Njegoš's death, titled Letters from Italy.[67]
While staying in Italy, Njegoš was disturbed by reports of Omar Pasha's plans to invade Montenegro.[nb 9] He planned another visit to Saint Petersburg to enlist Russian support, but the czar refused to meet him. Njegoš headed back to Montenegro in the summer, having consulted physicians in Vienna on his way back. While in Vienna, he encountered Serbian photographer Anastas Jovanović, who persuaded him to pose for a picture in his studio. Jovanović's calotype portrait is the only known photograph of Njegoš in existence. Jovanović also photographed a group of Perjanici that had accompanied Njegoš on his journey to Italy, as well as the chieftains Mirko Petrović and Petar Vukotić. Njegoš returned to Cetinje in August 1851, with his health rapidly deteriorating. He died there on 31 October [O.S. 19 October] 1851, surrounded by his closest associates and just two weeks shy of his thirty-eighth birthday. Eyewitnesses reported his last words as "love Montenegro and render justice to the poor."[69]
Njegoš's will named Danilo Petrović, the son of Njegoš's cousin, Stanko Stijepov, as his successor. Danilo had been sent to acquire a basic education in Russia the year before the vladika's death, and was not in Montenegro at the time. When Njegoš died, Đorđije disregarded the will and appeared before the Governing Senate asking that the senators proclaim Pero the new vladika. Danilo returned from Russia in 1852, bringing with him a letter authored by the Russian czar which made it clear that Saint Petersburg endorsed Danilo's accession, not Pero's. In the ensuing power struggle, Đorđije and Pero lost the support of most of the tribal chiefs, and they and their families were forced into exile. Pero sought refuge in Kotor, where his wife gave birth to a boy. In the hope of preserving his brother's memory, Pero named the newborn Rade, but the child died after only two months. Pero himself died in 1854 without having produced any male offspring, thus extinguishing the male line of Njegoš's parents. Njegoš's mother died in 1858, and his father lived into his late nineties, having outlived all three of his sons.[70]
Burial
Prior to his death, Njegoš had asked to be buried atop
At the end of the
Literary works
Influences and style
Despite being Montenegro's ruler for more than twenty years, Njegoš is best known for his literary output.[73] His writings drew on Serb folklore, lyric poetry and biblical stories. He began writing poetry at the age of seventeen, and his literary opus includes Glas kamenštaka (The Voice of a Stone-Cutter; 1833), Lijek jarosti turske (The Cure for Turkish Fury; 1834), Ogledalo srpsko (The Serbian Mirror; 1835), Luča mikrokozma (The Ray of the Microcosm; 1845), Gorski vijenac (The Mountain Wreath; 1847), Lažni car Šćepan mali (The False Tsar Stephen the Little; 1851) and, posthumously, Slobodijada (The Freedom Song; 1854).[74] His most famous works are Luča mikrokozma, Gorski vijenac and Lažni car Šćepan mali, all epic poems.[75]
The historian Zdenko Zlatar argues that Njegoš's mentor (and later secretary) Sima Milutinović influenced him more than any other person, noting that while Milutinović "was not a great poet or playwright [...] no one in Cetinje or for that matter the whole of Montenegro had a better knowledge of the wider world."[8] Indeed, Milutinović introduced Njegoš to his own poetry, which Professor Svetlana Slapšak describes as being "written in unusual syntax, with unparalleled neologisms and fantastic etymologies".[9] The position of Njegoš's secretary was later occupied by Dimitrije Milaković, a physically disabled Dubrovnik-born polyglot who had studied philosophy in Vienna and came to Montenegro with Vukotić and Vučićević in 1832. Milaković operated the printing press at Cetinje Monastery, served as editor-in-chief of Grlica and edited all Njegoš's works prior to their publication.[76] Njegoš was also a great admirer of the Serbian revolutionary Karađorđe, who led the First Serbian Uprising, and dedicated Gorski vijenac to his memory.[77] The linguist Vuk Karadžić influenced Njegoš through his reforms of the Serbian language, and used his own fame to popularize Njegoš's work. Moreover, he introduced Njegoš to his inner circle, which included some of the leading Serb poets of the day, such as Branko Radičević and Milica Stojadinović-Srpkinja.[78] Njegoš was also impacted by the works of foreign writers, such as Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy and John Milton's Paradise Lost; their influence can be strongly felt in Luča mikrokozma.[74]
Slapšak notes that Njegoš was born into a culture with an almost exclusively oral storytelling tradition, where the only written works were of a religious nature or recounted the history of Montenegro. Describing his mastery of the traditional oral epic, she asserts that it was the "only adequate, literary genre of his age", one that allowed him "to interpret [his] community for the world and for himself in the language of poetry." Multiple scholars have also noted similarities between the chorus of Ancient Greek tragedies and that of Gorski vijenac (the kolo, which represents the collective voice of Montenegro's inhabitants, reflecting their hopes, fears and desires.) The epic also features similar character roles, such as that of the pensive ruler (Danilo), the hero (Vuk Mandušić), the blind prophetic monk (iguman Stefan) and the lamenting woman (Batrić's sister).[74]
Critical reception
Most of what was written about Njegoš during his lifetime was the work of foreigners (officials, scholars or travelers).[79] One of the earliest detailed academic analyses of Njegoš's works was published by Milan Rešetar in 1890. Following the establishment of a common South Slav state in 1918, scholars reinterpreted Njegoš in a Yugoslav light, despite some of his writings being decidedly anti-Muslim and having the potential to alienate Yugoslavia's Muslim citizens, who formed about ten percent of the new country's population.[80] During the interwar period, future Nobel Prize winner Ivo Andrić wrote extensively about Njegoš and his works, and published several papers on the vladika's poetry after the war, as well. Other authors who wrote about Njegoš include Mihailo Lalić, Isidora Sekulić and Anica Savić Rebac.[81]
A former politician and leading Marxist theoretician, Djilas wrote a lengthy study of Njegoš's life and works in the late 1950s while serving a prison sentence after a row with Yugoslavia's communist leadership. The manuscript was smuggled out of the prison by Djilas' associates in the early 1960s and taken to the West, where it was edited, translated from the original Serbo-Croatian into English, and published under the title Njegoš: Poet, Prince, Bishop, in 1966.[82] The book remains the only English-language biography of Njegoš, and the subsequent Serbo-Croatian edition (1988) is likely the most extensive study of his life in that language, as well.[83] Djilas himself was a great admirer of Njegoš, and later recounted that Gorski vijenac was the only text that he always carried by his side during the Second World War.[84]
Njegoš's writings have received varying degrees of scholarly and critical attention since his death. Some studies have been written about Luča mikrokozma, though very little has been written about Lažni car Šćepan mali,[85] which Djilas believes contains some of Njegoš's finest verse.[86] Of all Njegoš's writings, the one that has been the subject of most scholarly analysis is Gorski vijenac, which virtually all critics regard as his finest work.[85] It is also his most famous, having been reprinted more than 120 times between 1847 and 1996.[87] By 1913, Gorski vijenac had been translated into ten different languages.[88] It has been translated into English twice – once by James W. Wiles, in 1930, and the second time by Vasa D. Mihailovich, in 1986.[89] Set in the early 1700s, the epic revolves around Njegoš's ancestor, vladika Danilo, as he ponders what to do with the Montenegrins who have converted to Islam amid increasing Ottoman encroachment. Danilo knows that every Montenegrin has a responsibility towards his family and towards his clan, for to kill a fellow Montenegrin would elicit a blood feud, but he also realizes that each man has a duty towards his faith and towards his nation, and that these two strains of responsibility are completely irreconcilable. Ultimately, the Montenegrin Christians give their Muslim kin the option of returning to Christianity or of facing death. On Christmas Day, those that refuse to comply are killed and their villages burned.[15] In light of its subject matter, Gorski vijenac became a source of considerable controversy during and after the Yugoslav Wars, when critics began to re-examine the text within the context of the conflicts' many atrocities.[79] Judah goes as far as to call it a "paean to ethnic cleansing".[90] He writes: "In the wake of another Balkan War, its significance is that of a missing link. It helps explain how the Serbian national consciousness has been molded and how ideas of national liberation became inextricably intertwined with killing your neighbour and burning his village."[91] Some scholars have even claimed that the epic is based on a historical massacre from the late 17th century. Djilas notes that no such event is mentioned in an authoritative history of Montenegro that was written by Danilo's successor, Vasilije, and published in 1756. Thus, Djilas concludes that the Christmas Day massacre is either entirely fictional or that the elimination of Montenegrin Muslims occurred in stages over a long period of time, as opposed to a single atrocity eradicating them all.[92] Srdja Pavlović contends that the massacre is a conflation of two historical events – the widespread conversion of Montenegrins to Islam in 1485 and the expulsion of the Medojević family from Montenegro in 1704, following a property dispute.[93] There is no scholarly consensus as to whether the Christmas Day massacre ever occurred.[94]
Legacy
Njegoš is regarded as an ambitious, able ruler who was esteemed during and after his lifetime.[95] He is remembered for laying the foundation for the modern Montenegrin state as well as for being one of the most acclaimed South Slavic poets of his time.[38] Since his death, Njegoš has remained a Serbian political and cultural father.[96] During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a variety of political factions (including Serbian nationalists, Yugoslavs and communists) drew inspiration from his works.[97] In the decades after Njegoš' death, Gorski vijenac became the Montenegrin national epic, reaffirming its connections to the Serbian and Christian worlds and celebrating the military skill of its warriors. For Serbs, the poem was significant because it evoked themes similar to the Kosovo epics and reminded them of their solidarity with Montenegro against the Ottoman Turks.[98] Like many of his contemporaries, Gavrilo Princip, the assassin of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, knew Gorski vijenac off by heart.[99]
Njegoš's influence parallels that of Shakespeare in the English-speaking world and his language – though archaic – has supplied modern Serbian with a number of well known quotations.[100] The epic has become the basic educational text for Montenegrins and Serbs. In Montenegro it was (and still is) learnt by heart, and has been integrated into oral tradition. Njegoš's picture can often be seen in taverns, offices, hospitals, on Yugoslav and Serbian currency and in people's homes in Montenegro and Serbia.[9] After the founding of Yugoslavia in the early 20th century, Njegoš was twice declared Yugoslavia's national poet, by the royal government in the 1920s and by the communist authorities following the
In 2013, Njegoš was regionally canonized within the Serbian Orthodox eparchy of Montenegro and the Littoral as Saint Petar of Lovćen, with his feast day celebrated on 19 May (6 May according to the old calendar).[103][104] In 2017, the first church dedicated to him was opened in Bar.[105]
Notes
- ^ Some scholars contend that he was born in 1811 or 1814, but the general scholarly consensus indicates a birth year of 1813.[1]
- papillate".[5]
- ^ Zlatar notes that this is indicative of the importance of the Petrovićes within the tribe.[6]
- ^ According to Montenegrin custom, if a member of one clan killed a member of another clan, the life of one of the murderer's fellow clansmen had to be taken. Since this act of vengeance, in turn, called for revenge, the custom inspired a never-ending cycle of bloodshed.[14]
- ^ This method of execution involved the use of muskets, and was thus referred to as "musketing". Three crimes were punishable by death—murder, treason and insulting the vladika.[29] Executions of Montenegrin citizens had to be carried by a five-member firing squad, shooting simultaneously, so that responsibility for the convict's death could not be assigned to any one individual or his family, making it impossible for a blood feud to erupt.[14]
- ^ It is said that a student need only have brought a severed Turkish head to their teacher to be excused from missing class.[43]
- ^ The reason it survived so long as part of the Montenegrin national costume was due to the widely held belief that it was originally a Serb hat which the Turks had adopted. [52]
- ^ Njegoš had originally considered naming the medal after Nikac of Rovine, a famed Montenegrin warrior who killed an Ottoman pasha in the mid-18th century. Eventually, he opted to name it after Obilić instead, as Obilić was a national hero while Nikac of Rovin was a local one.[52]
- ^ A Serb convert to Islam, Ottoman General Omar Pasha crushed a Muslim-led revolt in central Bosnia and western Herzegovina in 1850, had its leaders (including Ali Pasha) executed on the Sultan's behalf, and abolished the Herzegovina Eyalet before setting his sights on Montenegro.[68]
References
Citations
- ^ Zlatar 2007, pp. 451, 466.
- ^ Djilas 1966, p. 6.
- ^ Djilas 1966, pp. 7–9.
- ^ Djilas 1966, p. 8.
- ^ P. Šimunović, F. Maletić (2008). Hrvatski prezimenik (in Croatian). Vol. 1. Zagreb: Golden marketing. pp. 100–101.
- ^ a b Zlatar 2007, p. 451.
- ^ Djilas 1966, pp. 27–34.
- ^ a b Zlatar 2007, p. 452.
- ^ a b c Slapšak 2004, p. 112.
- ^ a b c Roberts 2007, p. 189.
- ^ a b Roberts 2007, p. 192.
- ^ a b c Judah 2000, p. 63.
- ^ a b Banac 1992, p. 271–72.
- ^ a b c d Jelavich 1983, p. 249.
- ^ a b Judah 2000, p. 76.
- ^ a b Roberts 2007, p. 190.
- ^ Jelavich 1983, p. 248.
- ^ Djilas 1966, pp. 32–3.
- ^ Djilas 1966, p. 80.
- ^ Zlatar 2007, p. 456.
- ^ Djilas 1966, pp. 81–3.
- ^ a b c Zlatar 2007, p. 453.
- ^ a b Roberts 2007, p. 193.
- ^ Zlatar 2007, p. 455.
- ^ Djilas 1966, p. 7.
- ^ See:
- Djilas 1966, pp. 59–63;
- Jelavich 1983, p. 249;
- Zlatar 2007, pp. 455–56.
- ^ a b Zlatar 2007, pp. 456–57.
- ^ Djilas 1966, p. 82.
- ^ Djilas 1966, pp. 211, 227.
- ^ Djilas 1966, pp. 82–6.
- ^ See:
- Djilas 1966, pp. 87–9, 108;
- Roberts 2007, p. 195;
- Zlatar 2007, p. 465;
- Jelavich 1983, pp. 249–50.
- ^ See:
- Djilas 1966, pp. 87–91;
- Zlatar 2007, p. 465;
- Roberts 2007, p. 195;
- Pavlović 2008, p. 36;
- Jelavich 1983, p. 250.
- ^ See:
- Djilas 1966, pp. 95–7;
- Roberts 2007, p. 196.
- ^ See:
- Djilas 1966, pp. 108–09;
- Roberts 2007, p. 197.
- ^ See:
- Djilas 1966, p. 85;
- Zlatar 2007, p. 465.
- ^ Roberts 2007, p. 197.
- ^ a b Jelavich 1983, p. 250.
- ^ a b c Pavlović 2008, p. 37.
- ^ Djilas 1966, pp. 110–14.
- ^ Roberts 2007, p. 198.
- ^ Djilas 1966, pp. 114–17.
- ^ Pavlović 2008, pp. 36–7.
- ^ See:
- Djilas 1966, p. 133;
- Merrill 2001, p. 193.
- ^ Djilas 1966, pp. 132–33.
- ^ See:
- Jelavich 1983, p. 250;
- Roberts 2007, p. 199.
- ^ Djilas 1966, pp. 139–41.
- ^ Djilas 1966, pp. 141–43.
- ^ Djilas 1966, pp. 144–5.
- ^ Djilas 1966, p. 152.
- ^ Djilas 1966, pp. 151–2.
- ^ a b Roberts 2007, p. 202.
- ^ a b c Djilas 1966, pp. 158–59.
- ^ Djilas 1966, p. 154.
- ^ Djilas 1966, pp. 154–57.
- ^ Djilas 1966, p. 245.
- ^ Roberts 2007, p. 204.
- ^ Djilas 1966, pp. 171–89.
- ^ Djilas 1966, pp. 171–74.
- ^ a b Djilas 1966, pp. 176–83.
- ^ a b Djilas 1966, pp. 184–87.
- ^ Djilas 1966, pp. 165–66.
- ^ Djilas 1966, pp. 203–21.
- ^ Djilas 1966, pp. 224–26.
- ^ Djilas 1966, p. 227.
- ^ Roberts 2007, p. 209.
- ^ See:
- Djilas 1966, pp. 402–13;
- Roberts 2007, pp. 210–13.
- ^ Djilas 1966, pp. 411–43.
- ^ Jelavich 1983, p. 349.
- ^ Djilas 1966, pp. 442–63.
- ^ Djilas 1966, pp. 463–65.
- ^ Wachtel 2004, pp. 136–39.
- ^ Wachtel 2004, pp. 143–44.
- ^ Djilas 1966, p. 464.
- ^ a b c Slapšak 2004, p. 110.
- ^ Ramet 2005, p. 296.
- ^ Djilas 1966, pp. 87–9.
- ^ Banac 1992, p. 274.
- ^ Slapšak 2004, pp. 111–13.
- ^ a b Roberts 2007, p. 188.
- ^ Lampe 2004, p. 135.
- ^ Slapšak 2004, pp. 115–16.
- ^ Roberts 2007, p. 134.
- ^ Djokić & 19 October 2011, p. 2.
- ^ Djilas 1977, p. 276.
- ^ a b Zlatar 2007, p. 473.
- ^ Djilas 1966, p. 373.
- ^ Zlatar 2007, pp. 845–49.
- ^ Roberts 2007, p. 187.
- ^ Roberts 2007, p. 133, note 2.
- ^ Judah 2000, p. 65.
- ^ Judah 2000, p. 77.
- ^ Djilas 1966, p. 313.
- ^ Pavlović & 3 October 2001.
- ^ Roberts 2007, p. 132.
- ^ Roberts 2007, p. 214.
- ISBN 9780520210387.
- ^ Balić 2006, p. 413.
- ^ Cox 2002, p. 60.
- ^ Judah 2000, p. 64.
- ^ Alexander 2006, p. 421.
- ^ Trencsényi & Kopček 2007, p. 431.
- ^ Wachtel 2004, p. 133.
- ^ "Петар II, Ловћенски Тајновидац – свети свједок Христовог Васкрсења". Православна Митрополија црногорско-приморска (Званични сајт) (in Serbian). 19 May 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ "Данас се прославља Свети Митрополит Петар Други Ловћенски Тајновидац". Православна Митрополија црногорско-приморска (Званични сајт) (in Serbian). 19 May 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ "У Бару освештана прва црква посвећена Светом Петру II Ловћенском Тајновидцу (видео)". Православна Митрополија црногорско-приморска (Званични сајт) (in Serbian). 21 May 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
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- Slapšak, Svetlana (2004). "Petar II Petrović-Njegoš: The Icon of the Poet with the Icon". In Cornis-Pope, Marcel; Neubauer, John (eds.). History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe: Junctures and Disjunctures in the 19th and 20th centuries Volume IV: Types and Stereotypes. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Co. ISBN 978-90-272-8786-1.
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- Velikonja, Mitja (2003). Religious Separation and Political Intolerance in Bosnia-Herzegovina. College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 978-1-58544-226-3.
- Wachtel, Andrew B. (2004). "How to Use a Classic: Petar Petrović-Njegoš in the Twentieth Century". In Lampe, John R.; Mazower, Mark (eds.). Ideologies and National Identities: The Case of Twentieth-Century Southeastern Europe. ISBN 978-963-9241-82-4.
- Zlatar, Zdenko (2007). Njegoš. The Poetics of Slavdom: The Mythopoeic Foundations of Yugoslavia. Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang. ISBN 978-0-820481357.
- Stefanović-Karadžić, Vuk (1837). Montenegro und die Montenegriner: Ein Beitrag zur Kenntniss der europäischen Türkei und des serbischen Volkes. Stuttgart und Tübingen: Verlag der J. G. Cotta'schen Buchhandlung.
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- Pavlović, Srdja (3 October 2001). "The Mountain Wreath: Poetry or a Blueprint for the Final Solution?". York University. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
External links
Media related to Petar II Petrović-Njegoš at Wikimedia Commons