Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro in the context of "Romanization of Serbian"

Montenegro is a country in Southeast Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Its 25 municipalities have a total population of 633,158 people in an area of 13,883 km (5,360 sq mi). It is bordered by Serbia to the northeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Kosovo to the east, Albania to the southeast, and Croatia to the west, and has a coastline along the Adriatic Sea to the southwest. The capital and largest city is Podgorica, while Cetinje is the Old Royal Capital and cultural centre.

Before the arrival of the Slav peoples in the Balkans in the 6th and 7th centuries CE, the area now known as Montenegro was inhabited principally by people known as Illyrians.During the Early Medieval period, three principalities were located on the territory of modern-day Montenegro: Duklja, roughly corresponding to the southern half; Travunia, the west; and Rascia proper, the north. The Principality of Zeta emerged in the 14th and 15th centuries. From the late 14th century to the late 18th century, large parts of southern Montenegro were ruled by the Venetian Republic and incorporated into Venetian Albania. The name Montenegro was first used to refer to the country in the late 15th century. After falling under Ottoman Empire rule, Montenegro gained semi-autonomy in 1696 under the rule of the House of Petrović-Njegoš, first as a theocracy and later as a secular principality. Montenegro's independence was recognised by the Great Powers at the Congress of Berlin in 1878. In 1910, the country became a kingdom. After World War I, the kingdom became part of Yugoslavia. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, the republics of Serbia and Montenegro together proclaimed a federation. In June 2006 Montenegro declared its independence following a referendum.

Vladika or Wladika (Serbian: владика, Russian: влады́ка) is an informal Slavic title and address for bishops in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches, specifically the Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, and American Orthodox Churches. In Old Church Slavonic, the meaning of the word is equivalent to English mister or lord.

From the early 16th to mid-19th century in Montenegro, the title referred to the bishop of Cetinje, who also served as the prince-bishop or leader of the Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro.

Danilo I Petrović-Njegoš (Serbian Cyrillic: Данило I Петровић-Његош; 1670 – 11 January 1735) was the Metropolitan of Cetinje between 1697 and 1735, the first de facto vladika of Montenegro, and the founder of the House of Petrović-Njegoš—which ruled Montenegro from 1697 to 1918. He restored the Cetinje Monastery and initiated the struggle for the liberation of Montenegro from Ottoman rule.

He was also known by the patronymic Danilo Šćepčević.

The tribes of Montenegro (Montenegrin and Serbian: племена Црне Горе, plemena Crne Gore) or Montenegrin tribes (Montenegrin and Serbian: црногорска племена, crnogorska plemena) are historical tribes in the areas of Old Montenegro, Brda, Old Herzegovina and Primorje.

Most tribes were formed in the 15th and 16th centuries, during and after the Ottoman conquest of the medieval state of Zeta, where they replaced former administrative units known as župas. As a result, the tribal territories also became basic geopolitical units of larger divisions of the Ottoman Empire, such as the Vilayet of Montenegro, the eastern parts of the Sanjak of Herzegovina and parts of the Sanjak of Scutari. From the late 14th century to the 18th century, some tribes were also under the rule of Venetian Albania. In the 18th century, many tribes became part of the Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro and after 1858 most of them were united into the Principality of Montenegro.

Danilo I Petrović-Njegoš (Serbian Cyrillic: Данило I Петровић-Његош; 25 May 1826 – 13 August 1860) was the ruling Prince of Montenegro from 1851 to 1860. The beginning of his reign marked the transition of Montenegro from a traditional theocratic form of government (Prince-Bishopric) into a secular Principality.

He became involved in a war with the Ottoman Empire in 1852, with the Porte claiming jurisdiction in Montenegro, and the boundaries between the two countries were not defined until 1858. Danilo, with the help of his elder brother, Voivode Mirko, defeated the Ottomans at Ostrog in 1853 and in the Battle of Grahovac in 1858. The town of Danilovgrad is named after him.

Šćepan Mali (Serbian Cyrillic: Шћепан Мали pronounced [ɕt͡ɕɛ̂paːn mâːli]; c. 1739 – 22 September 1773), translated as Stephen the Little, was the first and only "tsar" of Montenegro, ruling the country as an absolute monarch from 1768 until his death. Of unclear origins, Šćepan became the ruler of Montenegro through a rumour that he was in fact the deposed Russian emperor Peter III, who had died several years before Šćepan surfaced in the Balkans.

Šćepan arrived in Montenegro in the autumn of 1766. Whether Šćepan was his real name is unknown, as is the reason for the epithet Mali. Who started the rumour that Šćepan was Peter and why is also unclear. Šćepan himself never formally proclaimed himself to be Peter, but never denied it either. Throughout 1767, he offered vague hints that he was the dead emperor, and as time went on, most of Montenegro became convinced of his supposed identity. Although Montenegro's legitimate ruler, Prince-Bishop Sava, who had met the real Peter and had received word from the Russian ambassador in Constantinople that Peter was dead, attempted to expose Šćepan, most Montenegrins continued to believe the rumours. In 1767, Šćepan was proclaimed as the country's ruler, and in February 1768, Sava was sidelined and confined to his monastery. Šćepan subsequently assumed the powers of an absolute monarch.

Petar I Petrović-Njegoš (Serbian: Петар I Петровић Његош; 1748 – 31 October 1830) was the Prince-Bishop of Montenegro from 1784 to 1830 and Exarch (legate) of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro. He was the most popular spiritual and military leader from the Petrović dynasty. During his long rule, Petar strengthened the state by uniting the often quarreling tribes, consolidating his control over Montenegrin lands, introducing the first laws in Montenegro in 1798. His rule prepared Montenegro for the subsequent introduction of modern institutions of the state: taxes, schools and larger commercial enterprises. He was canonized by the Serbian Orthodox Church as Saint Peter of Cetinje (Serbian: Sveti Petar Cetinjski / Свети Петар Цетињски).

Old Montenegro (Montenegrin and Serbian: Stara Crna Gora / Стара Црна Гора), also known as Montenegro proper (Prava Crna Gora / Права Црна Гора), or True Montenegro (Istinska Crna Gora / Истинска Црна Гора), is a term used for the embryonic part of modern Montenegro. In historical context, the term designates the original territory of the Principality of Montenegro, before the territorial expansion, ratified by the Congress of Berlin in 1878, or even more precisely - the territory of the Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro prior to its unification with the region of Brda in the first half of the 19th century.

During the Ottoman period, from the 16th up to the 18th century, the original (proper) Montenegro was made up of the Montenegrin tribes (Montenegrin and Serbian: crnogorska plemena / црногорска племена), traditionally divided into four territorial units, or nahije: Katun, Rijeka, Lješ and Crmnica. Their inhabitants were known under the regional demonym Montenegrins (Crnogorci / Црногорци), as opposed to the inhabitants of neighboring regions (Brđani, Hercegovci and Primorci). Since the end of the 18th century, Montenegro started to expand, incorporating the region of Brda in the first half of the 19th century, the region of Old Herzegovina and part of Primorje in 1878, and finally upper and central Polimlje and northern Metohija in 1912.

Sava Petrović (Serbian Cyrillic: Сава Петровић; 18 January 1702 – 9 March 1782) was the Metropolitan of Cetinje between 1735 and 1781, ruling what is known in historiography as the Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro; the polity in the hands of the Petrović-Njegoš dynasty. He succeeded his relative Danilo I as Metropolitan in 1735, having served as Danilo's coadjutor since the 1719, when he was consecrated by Serbian Patriarch Mojsije I.

Sava was a lesser memorable figure in Montenegrin history, having served during a period of constant and bitter tribal rivalries and power struggles in tribal leadership.