Vasilije Petrovi?
(
Serbian Cyrillic
:
Васили?е Петрови?
; 1709 ? 10 March 1766) was the
metropolitan bishop
of
Cetinje
(
Prince-Bishop of Montenegro
), ruling with
Sava Petrovi?
, his cousin. He was author of the
History of Montenegro
, published in 1754.
Political background
[
edit
]
The modern political history of Montenegro began with
Metropolitan Danilo
, who founded a state ruled by a dynasty from the
Petrovi?-Njego? family
. Danilo was eventually succeeded by his two nephews, first by
Sava Petrovi?
, and then by Vasilije.
[1]
Bishop Sava was a secluded person, and dedicated himself more to religion than to politics. He had some influence among the tribesmen of Montenegro. He advocated for Montenegrin dependence on Russia as a means of defeating the Ottoman Empire and achieving statehood for Montenegro.
[1]
He also maintained good relations with the
Republic of Venice
.
[2]
Term
[
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]
During his term, Vasilije ruled together with
Sava
, his brother, as his
coadjutor
. Between 1750 and 1766 he unsuccessfully tried to convince Austria's
Maria Theresa
that "since the time of
Alexander the Great
" Montenegro had been a "separate republic.. [over which] rules her metropolitan".
[3]
From 1752 to 1754, he stayed in Russia and thereafter made additional trips to gain Russian assistance. With the help of Russian arms, he went to war with the Turks and then had to seek refuge back to Russia. In 1766 while in
St. Petersburg
, he died of
pneumonia
.
[1]
Aftermath
[
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]
After Vasilije, Sava took power and continued with the same foreign policy as before, allying himself with Venice. That did not last long however, as
??epan Mali
who, claiming to be the Russian Tsar Peter III himself, managed to convince the people that he should rule Montenegro.
[1]
He immediately severed ties with Venice altogether, implemented the strict rule of law, began building roads until his life was cut short in 1773 by an assassin sent by the Vizier of Skadar.
[1]
[4]
[5]
Sava returned to serve as metropolitan once again, and after him his nephew, Arsenije Plamenac of
Crmnica
, became metropolitan. But Arsenije, too, was soon to die, in 1784. Once again a member of the Petrovi?-Njego?, now
Petar I Petrovi?-Njego?
, was inaugurated.
[1]
Literary works
[
edit
]
The writing and teaching of Montenegrin history was a chief interest for most of Vasilije's life, as well as his occupation as a spiritual leader.
Istorija o ?ernoj Gori
(History of Montenegro), published in St. Petersburg in 1754, is his most renowned work.
[6]
Through accounts from ordinary citizens, the book represented the first attempt to write the history of Montenegro.
[2]
[1]
It was an effort on the part of Vasilije to gain Russian political support for Montenegro against the Ottomans by highlighting and mythologizing Montenegrin struggles.
[6]
[2]
It put forth the idea of Montenegrin independence for the first time, though it did not have a large immediate impact.
[7]
Parts of the
Cetinje chronicle
are also attributed to him.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
Title
[
edit
]
- Metropolitan of Montenegro, Skenderija and Primorje, and Exarch of the Serb throne (smjerni mitropolit crnogorski, skenderijski i primorski i trona srpskoga egzarh)
[8]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Pavlovic, Srdja (2008).
Balkan Anschluss: The Annexation of Montenegro and the Creation of the Common South Slavic State
. Purdue University Press. pp. 33?36.
ISBN
9781557534651
.
- ^
a
b
c
Roberts, Elizabeth (2007).
Realm of the Black Mountain: A History of Montenegro
. Cornell University Press. pp. 148?149.
ISBN
9780801446016
.
- ^
Banac, Ivo (2015).
The National Question in Yugoslavia: Origins, History, Politics
. Cornell University Press. p. 274.
ISBN
9781501701948
.
- ^
Diamond, Neil; Kne?evi?, Marija, eds. (2017).
Images of Montenegro in Anglo-American Creative Writing and Film
. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 10.
ISBN
9781443862707
.
- ^
Ivetic, Egidio (2022).
History of the Adriatic: A Sea and Its Civilization
. John Wiley & Sons. p. 55.
ISBN
9781509552535
.
- ^
a
b
Mitev, Plamen (2010).
Empires and Peninsulas: Southeastern Europe Between Karlowitz and the Peace of Adrianople, 1699-1829
. LIT Verlag Munster. p. 91.
ISBN
9783643106117
.
- ^
Banovic, Branko (2016).
The Montenegrin Warrior Tradition: Questions and Controversies over NATO Membership
. Springer. p. 49.
ISBN
9781137552280
.
- ^
"Projekat Rastko Cetinje - Vasilije Petrovic Njegos - Istorija o Crnoj Gori"
. Archived from
the original
on 2014-12-05
. Retrieved
2014-11-27
.
External links
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Heads of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the Habsburg monarchy (1690?1920)
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