Montenegro history
Every part of Montenegro will tell a curious traveler many interesting stories from various periods in time - from the grand Roman Empire, to the modern times. Although its territory is rather small, this proud country has a lot to say when it comes to its history.
The name "Crna Gora" (Montenegro) is mentioned for the first time in the Charter of King Milutin, in 1276. It is believed that it got its name after the dense forests that covered Mount Lovcen and the surrounding area.
From the 14th to the 19th cent. the principal activity of the fiercely independent Montenegrin people was fighting the Turks, who never entirely conquered their mountain stronghold. In the 14th cent. the region constituting present Montenegro was the virtually independent principality of Zeta in the Serbian empire. After Serbia was defeated by the Turks in the battle of Kosovo Field (1389), Montenegro continued to resist and became a refuge for Serbian nobles who fled Turkish rule. The sultans did not recognize Montenegrin independence, but, although they thrice destroyed Cetinje, they never succeeded in making Montenegro tributary. However, the princes of Montenegro ruled only a small part of the present republic, the rest being governed by Turkey after 1499 and by Venice, which held Kotor.
From 1515 until 1851 the rule of Montenegro was vested in the prince-bishops (vladikas) of Cetinje; these were assisted by civil governors. Social organization, geared almost exclusively to the needs of war, was largely military and patriarchal. With Danilo I, who ruled from 1696 to 1735, the episcopal succession was made hereditary in the Niegosh family, the office passing ordinarily from uncle to nephew, because the bishops could not marry. Danilo I also inaugurated (1715) the traditional alliance of Montenegro with Russia; the emperors of Russia were henceforth considered as at least the spiritual suzerains of the vladikas.
Peter I, who reigned from 1782 to 1830, defied both France and Austria when the Treaty of Campo Formio (1797) transferred the Venetian possession of Kotor to Austria, but he failed to obtain the coveted port. However, in 1799, Sultan Selim III recognized the independence of Montenegro. Peter I instituted internal reforms and sought to end the blood feuds and lawlessness that had become a traditional way of life. He was canonized as a saint after his death. Peter II (reigned 1830–51), a gifted poet, continued his predecessor's work of reform and fostered a revival of learning and culture; aside from occasional border warfare, he lived in relative peace with his neighbors, Turkey and Austria. Danilo II, who succeeded him, secularized his principality in 1852 and transferred his ecclesiastic functions to an archbishop.
Under Nikola I (reigned 1860–1918) Montenegro was formally recognized as an independent state at the Congress of Berlin (1878), which increased its territory and gave it a narrow outlet on the Adriatic. In 1910, Nicholas proclaimed himself king. He fought Turkey in the Balkan Wars and took Shkodër in 1913, but was forced by the pressure of the European powers to evacuate the city. Montenegro did, however, receive part of the territory claimed by newly independent Albania.
