Bible Encyclopedias
Montenegro

Climate

The climate generally resembles that of northern Albania; it is severe in the higher regions, and comparatively mild in the valleys, while in the maritime districts of Antivari and Dulcigno it may be compared with that of central Italy. The mean annual temperature is about 58° F. Snow lies for most of the year on many heights, and in some of the darker gorges it is never thawed. The high basin of Cettigne (2093 ft.) is deeply covered with snow during the winter months, and the capital is sometimes almost inaccessible; in summer the days are hot, but the nights are cool and frequently chilly. The climate is generally healthy except in a few marshy districts.

Flora and Fauna

The Alpine vegetation of the summits gives way to pine forests in the sub-Alpine zone (about 600o ft.); below these the beech, and then the oak, the walnut, the wild pear, and wild plum make their appearance; the fig-tree, the mulberry, and the vine grow in the middle Zeta and Moratcha valleys, the myrtle, orange, laurel and olive in the lower Moratcha region, and more abundantly in the Tzrmnitza and maritime districts. In the forest districts the beech is the prevailing tree up to a height of about 5000 ft. The chestnut forms little groves in the country between the sea and Lake Scutari but never ascends more than 1000 ft. Pomegranate bushes grow wild, and in many parts of the south cover the foot of the hills with dense thickets, the crimson blossoms of which are one of the special charms of the spring landscapes. The leaves of the sumach (Rhus cotinus), which flourishes in the warmer districts, are exported for use in dye-works; the Pyrethrum cinerariaefolium supplies material for the manufacture of insectpowder; the fruit of the wild plum (Cornus mascula), as well as the grape, is employed for the production of raki or rakiya, a mild spirit, which is a favourite beverage with the people. Bears are still found in the higher forests; wolves, and especially foxes, over a much wider area. A few chamois still roam on the loftiest summits, the roebuck is not infrequent in the backwoods, the wild boar may be met with in the same district, and the hare is abundant wherever the ground is covered with herbage. There are one or two species of snakes in the country, including the poisonous Illyrian viper (Vipera ammodytes). Esculent frogs, tree frogs, the common tortoise, and various kinds of lizards are all common. Scorpions and numerous reptiles infest the arid rocks of the Katunska. The list of birds includes golden eagles and vultures, twelve species of falcons, several species of owls, nightingales, larks, buntings, hoopoes, partridges, herons, pelicans, ducks (ten species), nightjars, &c. Immense flocks of water-fowl haunt the upper reaches of Lake Scutari. The rivers abound with trout, tench, carp and eels; the trout of the Moratcha are especially fine. More important from an economic point of view is the scoranze (Leuciscus alburnus: Servian uklieva), a kind of sardine, which supplies an article of food and merchandise to a considerable portion of the population. The fish, which enter the Rieka inlet of Lake Scutari during the winter, are taken with nets during a few weeks in the spring, when the fishing season is inaugurated with a religious service; they are salted and exported in large quantities to Trieste and the Dalmatian coast. The annual take is valued at 4000. The sea-fisheries are of less value. As regards mineral resources, traces of iron, copper and coal are said to exist; there is a natural petroleum spring in the neighbourhood of Virbazar.

Agriculture and Stock-farming

Except in the lowlands, which serve as the granary of Montenegro, furnishing wheat, maize, barley, rye, potatoes and capsicums, there is little tillage. Methods and implements are alike primitive. In the Katunska the peasants are glad to enclose the smallest spaces of the fertile red soil which is 1 The name Brda (literally "mountains") signifies in ordinary speech the mountain-group east of the Zeta which was incorporated in the principality in 1796. It figures in the prince's title, but is not otherwise used in official documents.

left after rain in the crevices of the rocks, and one may see harvests only a few yards square. The vineyards produce excellent grapes, but wine production, which might become an important industry, is at present limited to home consumption. Tobacco is largely cultivated, especially in the neighbourhood of Podgoritza; the annual produce amounts to 550,000 lb. Stock-raising is more largely carried on than agriculture. In the north droves of swine fatten on the mast of the beech woods; goats and large flocks of sheep, celebrated for their thick fleeces, thrive on the high pastures, and the lower slopes afford excellent grazing for larger stock. The native breed of cattle is small, but among other efforts made to improve it a stock-farm is maintained by Prince Nicholas near Nikshitch. The horses, as elsewhere in the Balkan Peninsula, are diminutive, wiry and intelligent. Bee-keeping is practised in the Kutchi districts, and mulberries are grown for silkworms.

Commerce and Industries

The exports, valued at £80,265 in 1906, include cattle (large and small), smoked and salted meat known as castradina, cheese, undressed hides, scoranze, sumach, pyrethrum, tobacco and wool. The imports, valued in the same year at £239,505, consist mainly of manufactured articles, such as iron utensils and weapons, soap, candles, &c., and colonial products. In 1904, when Montenegro renounced its commercial treaties, the old 8% ad valorem duty levied on imports was in many cases raised to 25%. This caused much discontent among the people, who had been growing steadily poorer since 190o; and many families emigrated. The exportation of cattle is greatly hindered by the high tariff imposed on the Austrian frontier, which is productive of much illicit trading. There are practically no manufactures: the men disdain industrial employment, while the women are occupied by household duties or work in the fields. A brewery and a cloth factory, however, exist at Nikshitch, a soda-water factory at Cettigne, and an olive-oil refinery at Antivari. The coarser cloth worn by the peasants is home-made; the finer kind worn by the wealthier class is imported.

Communications

The progress of trade and the development of the natural resources of the country must largely depend on improved means of communication. In this direction considerable progress has already been achieved. Montenegro possessed in 1907 228 m. of excellent carriage roads, admirably engineered and maintained. The remarkable zigzag road from Cattaro to Niegush and Cettigne was completed in 1881; it was afterwards prolonged to Rieka, Podgoritza, Danilovgrad (where a fine bridge across the Zeta was erected in 1870), and Nikshitch. Another road connects Podgoritza with its port, Plavnitza, on Lake Scutari; a third runs from Antivari to Rieka, and unites the sea-coasts with the richest districts of the interior. The ports of Antivari and Dulcigno are insufficiently sheltered, but are capable of considerable improvement; both are places of call for the Austrian Lloyd steamers, and a regular service between Antivari and Bari on the Italian coast is maintained by the "Puglia" Steamship Company. The Boyana is navigable by sea-going vessels as far as Oboti (122 m. from its mouth), where cargoes from Scutari must be transferred to small river craft. Important harbour works were inaugurated in 1905 at Antivari by the Italo-Montenegrin Compagnia d'Antivari, which in the same year began the construction of a railway from that port to Virbazar on Lake Scutari. Four steamers belonging to the same company ply on the lake. Postal and telegraphic communication is fairly complete. There were, in 1906, 16 post offices and 20 telegraph stations, with 412 miles of wire. The number of letters posted in that year was 91,250. The telegraph is much used by the people: the number of telegrams sent in 1906 was 54,750.

Population

In 1882 the population of Montenegro was estimated as low as 160,000 by Schwartz. A more usual estimate is 230,000. According, however, to information officially furnished at Cettigne, the total number of inhabitants in 1900 was 311,564, of whom 293,527 belonged to the Orthodox Church; 12 ,493 were Moslems and 5544 were Roman Catholics; 71,528, or 23%, were literate and 240,036, or 77%, were illiterate. The total number in 1907 was officially given as 282,000. The population is densest in the fertile eastern districts; Montenegro proper is sparsely inhabited. Emigration is greatly increasing, especially to America; the number of emigrants is given as 6674 in 1905 and 4346 in 1906. The bulk of the inhabitants belongs to the Serbo-Croatian branch of the Slavonic race. There were about 5000 Albanians resident in the country in 1goo, besides a small colony of gipsies, numbering about Boo, a few of whom have abandoned their nomadic life and settled on the soil. The Moslems, whose thrift and industry have won encouragement from the Crown, greatly decreased for some years after 1880 owing to emigration. The capital of Montenegro is Cettigne (3200 inhabitants in 1900, 5138 in 1907). The chief commercial centres are Podgoritza (12,3 4 7) and Nikshitch (6872), with the ports of Antivari (2717) and Dulcigno (5166). These towns are described under separate headings. Danilovgrad (1226) on the Zeta was founded in 1871 by Prince Nicholas and named after his predecessor, Danilo II. In the vicinity is Orialuka, the prince's palace, with its mulberry nurseries. Spuzh (1000), a little lower on the east bank of the Zeta, possesses a fortified acropolis. Niegush or Nyegosh (1893), on the road from Cettigne to Cattaro, is the ancestral abode of the ruling family, which originally came from Niegush in Herzegovina. Zhabliak (1200), near Lake Scutari, was the capital until late in the 15th century. It was a Venetian stronghold. Rieka (1768), near the northern end of Lake Scutari, derives some commercial importance from its position. Grahovo (loon), in the extreme west, is famous for the Turkish defeats of 1851 and 1876. Other small towns are Kolashin, Virbazar and Andriyevitza.

The Montenegrins present all the characteristics of a primitive race as yet but little affected by modern civilization. Society National is still in that early stage at which personal valour Character- is regarded as the highest virtue, and warlike prowess lstics. constitutes the principal, if not the only, claim to pre-eminence. The chiefs are distinguished by the splendour of their arms and the richness of their costume; women occupy a subject position; the physically infirm often adopt the profession of minstrels and sing the exploits of their countrymen like the bards of the Homeric age. A race of warriors, the Montenegrins are brave, proud, chivalrous and patriotic; on the other hand, they are vain, lazy, cruel and revengeful. They possess the domestic virtues of sobriety, chastity and frugality, and are well-mannered, affable and hospitable, though somewhat contemptuous of strangers. They are endowed in no small degree with the high-flown poetic temperament of the Serb race, and delight in interminable recitations of their martial deeds, which are sung to the strains of the gusla, a rudimentary one-stringed fiddle. Dancing is a favourite pastime. Two characteristic forms are the slow and stately ring-dance (kolo),' in which women sometimes participate, though it is usually performed by a circle of men; and the livelier measure for both sexes (oro), in which the couples face one another, leaping high into the air, while each man encourages his partner by rapid revolver-firing. The oro is the traditional dance in the Katunska district. Women chant wild dirges, generally improvised, over the dead; mourners try to excel one another in demonstrations of grief; and funerals are celebrated by an orgy very like an Irish "wake." Like most imaginative peoples, the Montenegrins are extremely superstitious, and belief in the vampire, demons and fairies is almost universal. Among the mountains they can converse fluently at astonishing distances. The physical type contrasts with that of the northern Serbs: the features are more pronounced, the hair is darker, and the stature is greater. The men are tall, often exceeding 6 ft. in height, muscular, and wonderfully active, displaying a cat-like elasticity of movement when scaling their native rocks; their bearing is soldier-like and manly, though somewhat theatrical. The women, though frequently beautiful in youth, age rapidly, and are short and stunted, though strong, owing to the drudgery imposed on them from childhood; they work in the fields, carry heavy burdens, and are generally treated as inferior beings. Like the Albanians, the Montenegrins take great pride in personal adornment. The men wear a red waistcoat, embroidered with gold or black braid, over which a long plaid is sometimes thrown in cold weather; a red girdle, in the folds of which pistols and yataghans are placed; loose dark-blue breeches and white stockings, which are generally covered with gaiters. The opanka, a raw-hide sandal, is worn instead of boots; patent leather long boots are sometimes worn by military officers and a few of the wealthier class. The headdress is a small cap (kapa), black at the sides, in mourning for Kossovo; red at the top, it is said, in token of the blood shed then and afterwards. On the top near the side, five semicircular bars of gold braid, enclosing the king's initials, are supposed to represent the five centuries of Montenegrin liberty. There 1 The ring-dance, known as the kolo (literally, "wheel") in all Serb countries, corresponds with the Bulgarian horo (to be distinguished from the Montenegrin oro), and is almost universal throughout the Balkan Peninsula; it is seldom, however, danced in the rocky Katunska district, where level spaces are rare.

is little authority, however, for this and other fanciful interpretations of the pattern, which was adopted in the reign of Peter I.; the red fez, from which the kapa probably derives its colour, was previously worn. A blue or green mantle is sometimes worn in addition by the chiefs. The poorer mountaineers are often dressed in coarse sacking, but all without exception carry arms. The women, as befits their servile condition, are generally clothed in black, and wear a black head-dress or veil; on Sundays and holidays, however, a white embroidered bodice, silver girdle, and bright silk skirt are worn beneath an open coat. Over this is placed a short, sleeveless jacket of red, blue, or violet velvet, according to the wearer's age. Unmarried girls are allowed to wear the red kapa, but without the embroidered badge. The Vasoyevitch tribe retain the Albanian costume, in which white predominates. Turkish dress is often seen at Antivari, Dulcigno and Podgoritza. The dwelling-houses are invariably of stone, except in the eastern districts, where wooden huts are found. As a rule, only the mansions of cattle-owners have a second storey: the ground floor, which is dark and unventilated, is occupied by the animals; the upper chambers, in which the family reside, are reached by a ladder or stone staircase. Chimneys are rare, and the smoke of the fireplace escapes through the windows (if any exist) or the open doorway. The principal food of the people is rye or maize cake, cheese, potatoes and salted scoranze; their drink is water or sour milk; meat is seldom tasted, except on festive occasions, when raki and red wine are also enjoyed. The Montenegrins are great smokers, especially of cigarettes; in the districts which formerly belonged to Turkey the men, whose dignity never permits them to carry burdens, may be seen going to market with the chi/Wile, or long pipe, slung across their backs. The mother possesses little influence over her sons, who are trained from their earliest infancy to cultivate warlike pursuits and to despise the weaker sex. Betrothals often take place in early childhood. Young men who are attached to each other are accustomed to swear eternal brotherhood (pobratimstvo); the bond, which receives the sanction of the Church, is never dissolved. Marriages between Montenegrins and converted Turkish girls are a common source of blood-feuds. The zadruga, or house-community, under the rule of a stareshina, or house-father, is found in Montenegro as in other Slavonic lands (see SERvIA). The tribal system still exists, but possesses less significance than in Albania, owing to the centralization of authority at Cettigne. The tribe (pleme, p1. plemena) is subdivided into clans (bratstva). Constitution and Government. - Notwithstanding the creation of an elective senate in 1831, the grant of a so-called constitution in 1868, and the establishment of a responsible ministry in 1874, the government remained autocratic till 1905, the whole power, even the control of religion and finance, which the constitution of 1868 had conceded to the senate, being centred in the hands of the prince, who in 1910 assumed the title of king. The senate, instituted by Peter II. with the object of limiting the power of the tribal chieftains, was in 1881 merged in a council of state, the members of which, six in number, were nominated and dismissed by the prince. The council supervises measures to be laid before the Skupshtina, or national assembly, and exercises a disciplinary control over officials. The ministry comprises six departments: (I) the interior, with separate sections for public works, posts and telegraphs, commerce and industry, shipping, sanitary service and agriculture; (2) foreign affairs; (3) war; (4) finance; (5) justice; and (6) education. On the 19th of December 1905 a new constitution was proclaimed by Prince Nicholas. A Skupshtina was instituted, consisting of 62 elected deputies, 9 ex officio members (the higher ecclesiastical and civil dignitaries), and 3 generals nominated by the prince. The Skupshtina is elected by manhood suffrage for a period of four years, and is summoned annually on the 31st of October. In conjunction with the Crown it exercises the legislative power; the ministers are responsible to it as well as to the Crown. The constitution affords financial supervision to the Skupshtina, which elects a board of control and votes an annual budget; it guarantees liberty of the person, of religious belief, and of the XVIII. 25 press, together with the right of public meeting, and abolishes the death penalty for political offences.

Administration and Justice

For purposes of local administration the country is divided into 5 departments (oblasti), each governed by a prefect (upravitel), and 56 districts (kapetanati), each under an official styled kapetan. The prefects and kapetans are nominated by the king on the recommendation of the minister of the interior. Rural communes, each under an elected kmet, or mayor, exist in Montenegro as in all Slavonic countries. The kmets act as justices of the peace, and there is an appeal from their decisions to the courts of first instance (kapetanski sudove), of which there is one in each district, the kapetan acting as judge. In each of the five departments there is a superior court (oblasni sud), with a president and two judges; at Cettigne there is a high court of justice (veliki sud), which is the final court of appeal. The ultimate appeal to the prince was abolished in 1902, when Prince Nicholas laid aside his judicial functions, retaining only the prerogative of pardon. The judges, who are removable, are nominated by the king on the recommendation of the minister of justice. With a single exception there are no professional advocates in Montenegro; each man is his own counsel, bringing his own witnesses. The local gendarmerie, numbering 150 men, is distributed in the five departments. The kapetanati have replaced the former local divisions according to plemena; in each of the communes there is one or more of the bratstva. The codification of the law, which had previously been administered according to unwritten custom, was first undertaken by Peter I. in 1796. An improved code, issued by Danlio II. in 1855, still contained many quaint enactments. The excellent code drawn up by Professor Bogishitch, a native of Ragusa, in 1888, was revised and enlarged in 1899. It contains elements from various foreign systems scientifically adapted to national usages and requirements. A large number of judicial reforms were carried out by Count Voinovitch, who succeeded Professor Bogishitch in 1899; in 1905 a new code of civil procedure was promulgated, and a criminal code in the following year. The only prison is at Podgoritza. In the old prison at Cettigne, closed after 1902, many of the inmates were free to walk in and out at pleasure. Some were burdened with fetters, rather as a punishment than for restraint. Until the completion of an asylum in 1903, dangerous lunatics were confined in prison. The commonest offences are murder and robbery; despite vigorous measures taken by the king and his predecessors, the blood-feud, or vendetta, cannot be stamped out, being approved, and even enforced, by public sentiment. Only women are held exempt from the duty of avenging their next-of-kin; they have been known, however, to undertake it, disguising themselves in male attire. A man who kills his slanderer, or otherwise avenges his honour, often receives a nominal term of imprisonment. Robbery, if practised by means of raids across the frontier, is popularly regarded as a venal offence. Other forms of crime are rare, and foreigners may traverse all parts of the kingdom, except the neighbourhood of the Albanian border, in perfect safety. The death penalty was first introduced by Peter I. Executions are carried out by a firing party selected from the various tribes, in order to prevent the relatives of the criminal from exacting vengeance. Exceptional severity is shown in the treatment of political offenders, who in some instances have been subjected to solitary confinement for years without trial.

Finance

Financial statistics are not published. The total receipts were estimated in 1907 at 2,773,690 Austrian krone,' the principal sources of income being the taxes on land, houses and cattle, the monopolies of tobacco, salt, petroleum and alcohol, and the customs dues. The total expenditure was estimated at 2,730,994 krone, the principal items being: civil list, &c., 189,586 krone; ministry of interior, 574,822 krone; of foreign affairs, 144,547 krone; of justice, 232,710 krone; of finance, 592,561 krone; of war, 133: 696 krone; of worship and education, 269,208 krone; service of national debt, 244,500 krone. The public debt is under £300,000. The contribution of Montenegro to the Ottoman debt has not been fixed. From time to time considerable subventions have been I The krone = iod. English.

received from Russia and Austria. The annual Russian subsidy, mainly for military and educational purposes, is stated to be about £40,000. Montenegro has no mint; Austrian paper money and coins are generally employed together with Montenegrin nickel and bronze coins struck in Austria. Turkish gold and silver are also in circulation. The former Turkish and Venetian weights and measures have been superseded by the French.

Defence

The Montenegrin is a born warrior; his weapons, which he never lays aside, are his most precious possession, and distinction in battle is the sole object of his ambition. Persons of all classes wear a revolver in the kolan or waistband. "You might as well take from me my brother as my rifle," says a native proverb; and rifles are almost universally carried near the Albanian frontier, where the tribesmen on either side are in a state of chronic hostility. Brave to a fault, an unerring marksman, hardy, agile, crafty and enduring, the Montenegrin has few rivals in the practice of guerrilla warfare. The traditional method of fighting is by ambuscade; the enemy is enticed into some intricate defile, surrounded, and harassed by rifle-fire; then the mountaineers, throwing aside their firearms, deliver a swift attack with the hanjar, or yataghan, which they wield with terrific effect. A number of heads cut off in battle adorned the parapet of a small tower outside Cettigne, called the "Turks' Tower," as late as 1850. When reduced to extremity the Montenegrins often committed suicide rather than fall into the hands of the enemy, the last cartridge being reserved for this purpose; disabled comrades who could not be removed used to be beheaded; in 1876 a Montenegrin offered to perform this kindly service for a Russian officer who was wounded at Klobuk. Savage methods of warfare, however, have been strongly discountenanced by King Nicholas and his predecessor. Till the middle of the 19th century the forces of the principality consisted of undisciplined bands of tribesmen under local chiefs, whose rivalries often proved injurious to the national cause. The supreme command, however, always. rested with the prince. The nucleus of a permanent corps was created by Peter II., who formed a bodyguard of picked men known as perianiki, from the feathers (pera) which adorned their caps. The name is still borne by a small corps (20 men in 1907) which guards the residences of the king and his sons, but the feathers are no longer worn. In 1853 Danilo II. ordered the enrolment of all persons capable of bearing arms, and instituted a military hierarchy of voievodes (generals), sirdars (colonels) and kapetans; the organization, which was based on the tribal system, was remodelled by Servian officers in 1870, when the chiefs were brought to Cettigne to receive military instruction. In the same year arms of precision were introduced: the cost and complex structure of the new weapons threatened to cause serious difficulty, but Russian aid was soon forthcoming. Since 1870, though arms and ammunition are manufactured on a small scale within the kingdom, the chief supplies have come from Russia. In 1895 the tsar presented Prince Nicholas with 30,000 Berdan rifles, besides ordnance and other war material, and in 1898 sent a further gift of 35,000 Moskovska rifles. Every able-bodied citizen must serve in the army, except Moslems, who are exempt on payment of a capitation tax. The military organization has undergone a gradual transformation under Prince Nicholas. in conformity with the changed circumstances of the country and the requirements of modern warfare. The militia system on the tribal basis is maintained, but in 1896 a permanent battalion of 500 men was established at Cettigne, and two years later another at Podgoritza, each under a komandir, or major, 4 captains and 15 lieutenants. A permanent brigade of artillery was formed at Nikshitch in 1897. In 1905 these were abolished through motives of economy. There is a standing corps of officers, but no standing army. All young men of military age go through an obligatory period of twelve days' service at the various local military centres. Candidates for a commission afterwards proceed to a military school at Podgoritza for one year; the best and most promising then receive commissions as pod-ofizieri or sous-officiers, and are sent for a further course of instruction of two years to military schools either at Cettigne for the infantry, or at Nikshitch for the artillery. They then receive full commissions and are sent to the local centres to superintend the training of the militia, thus gradually superseding the old militia officers, and replenishing the standing corps of officers of the regular army. Officers who have completed a course of study abroad are allowed to wear a distinctive emblem on the kapa. The war strength is estimated at from 38,000 to 42,000 men, the infantry being composed of about 32,000 men of the first ban and of 5000 or 6000 of the second or reserve (which, however, would scarcely be employed in the field), the artillery of about 1500. Considerable deduction must be made from these numbers in view of the emigration of recent years; according to some authorities between 20,000 and 22,000 men of military age are absent in America and elsewhere. It is expected, however, that many of these would return should the country become involved in war. The infantry is divided into Ii brigades, each containing from 4 to 6 battalions; the total number of battalions is 56. The battalion is composed of a varying number of tchete, or companies, each of which belongs to a separate clan and has its own bairaktar, or standard-bearer. The younger men of the first ban are occasionally exercised in the neighbourhood of their homes on Sundays and holidays. They are armed with the Moskovska (repeating) rifle, but a Berdan rifle is.

also kept in each household. The artillery was composed in 1910 of 18 siege, 25 field and 38 mountain guns, with 4 howitzers, 15 mortars and 18 machine-guns (6 Gatling and 12 Maxim-Nordenfeldt); the principal arsenal is at Spuzh, where the heavier guns are kept, the others are distributed among 8 of the 11 local brigades. The perianiki, whose numbers were increased by Prince Danilo, were disbanded in 1898, when steps were taken to form a bodyguard of 3000 picked men under Prince Mirko, King Nicholas's second son, but the project was abandoned in view of the jealousies to which the selection gave rise. Owing to the lack of open country there is no cavalry. In 1894 the sultan presented Prince Nicholas with equipment for a small mounted body-guard (32 men), and offered the services of three instructors. This corps, however, ceased to exist in 1898. About 20,000 men can concentrate at a given spot within 48 hours. The signal for mobilization is mainly given by telegraph; bonfires, trumpet-calls and volley-firing are also employed. The warriors were formerly summoned by stentorian couriers, who shouted from the tops of the mountains. An ambulance corps has been formed. Transport is deficient, all draught animals, however, in the country have been registered and a few carts have been provided. The wives and daughters of the troops provide the commissariat, and carry the ammunition.

Religion

The Montenegrin Church is an autocephalous branch of the Eastern Orthodox communion. In 1894 it formally vindicated its independence against the claims of the Russian synod. The vladikas, or prince-bishops, formerly depended on the patriarchate of Ipek. The theocratic system of government which existed from 1516 to 1851 tended to unite the patriotic and the religious instincts of the people. Since the separation of the spiritual and temporal powers in 1851, the see of Cettigne, in which the diocese of Ostrog is included, has been occupied by a metropolitan (metropolit), who possesses a nominal jurisdiction over Scutari and the Primore. In judgments relative to divorce his verdicts may be reversed by the king. Otherwise he is supreme in matters spiritual. There are 159 parishes of the Orthodox Church, 10 Roman Catholic parishes under the archbishop of Antivari and 10 Mahommedan parishes under a mufti. The churches are small unpretending structures, almost all exactly alike; a handsome cathedral, however, has been erected at Nikshitch. The principal monasteries, in addition to the convent at Cettigne, are those of St Nicholas, on the Moratcha, and of St Basil at Ostrog. The monastic order is almost extinct; the parochial clergy, who numbered about 400 in 1900, are only distinguishable from the laity by their beards; they wear the national costume, carry weapons, take part in warfare, and follow the ordinary avocations of the peasantry. Even the old vladikas discarded the episcopal robe, except when engaged in sacerdotal duties. The clergy are still for the most part extremely ignorant.

Education

The Bogoslovia, a seminary for the instruction of the young priests and schoolmasters, was established at Cettigne in 1869. It is maintained by 'a subvention from the emperor of Russia, while the empress supports the Zhenski Tzrnogorski Institut, an excellently managed school for girls (98 pupils in 1907). Government lecturers go on circuit to instruct the older men. They may be seen on Sundays, not only distributing general information, but teaching the shepherds how to safeguard their flocks from disease, and the lowland cultivators how to tend their vines and tobacco crops. An agricultural college at Podgoritza supplements their work. Primary education is compulsory. In the rural districts it is free; in the towns a small fee is charged. In 1906 there were 112 primary schools in the principality with 150 teachers and 9756 pupils; and two secondary schools (at Cettigne and Podgoritza) with 21 professors and about 1000 pupils; the Moslems and Roman Catholics have separate schools. There are also gymnasia, or high schools, at Cettigne and Podgoritza, with about 700 pupils. Students desirous of higher education proceed abroad, for the most part to the university in Belgrade. The progress of education under Prince Nicholas was very remarkable. In the time of his predecessor, Danilo II., who taught the sons of his chieftains in the palace, there were only three schools in the principality. In 1876, at the beginning of the war, there were 52 schools, with 62 teachers and 3159 pupils. The schools were closed during the war, and at its conclusion only 22 could be reopened, owing to want of funds. Elementary education was reorganized in 1878.

Language and Literature

The Montenegrin language is practically identical with the Serbo-Croatian: it exhibits certain dialectical variations, and has borrowed to some extent from the Turkish and Italian. Existing manuscripts and printed books, chiefly psalters and gospels, bear witness to a period of literary culture among the clergy contemporaneous with the activity of the printing-press at Obod. This was established in 1493, a few years after Caxton set up his first press in Westminster. It was destroyed by the Turks in 1566, after sending out copies of the gospel into all Slavonic countries. The folk-songs, however, of which the first collection was made in the reign of Peter II., constitute the bulk of the national literature. The poems of that ruler are accounted among the classics of the Servian language, especially his Gorski Vienatz, or "Mountain Wreath," a drama describing the massacre of the Montenegrin Moslems by their Christian kinsmen in 1702. The reigning family has produced a succession of poets; the songs of Mirko Petrovitch, the father of Prince Nicholas, and the lyrics and dramas of Prince Nicholas himself enjoy great celebrity. The Grlitze, or "Turtledoves," a kind of almanac published at Cettigne by Milakovitch between 1835 and 1839, contained poems, tales, statistics and an abridgment of the Montenegrin annals down to 1830; it was succeeded in the time of Danilo II. by the Orlitch, or "Eaglet." The first Montenegrin newspaper, the Tzrnogoratz, or "Montenegrin," founded in 1870, was prohibited on the Austrian frontier, and soon disappeared; it was replaced by the Glas Tzrnogortza, or "Voice of the Montenegrin," a semi-official publication. There were in 1910 three other journals in the kingdom.

Antiquities

In Montenegro, as in Albania, the monuments of early civilization bear witness to Roman rather than to Greek influence. Roman remains occur in many parts of the country east of the Zeta, and early Latin churches exist at Dulcigno (Ulcinium) and other places. "The organization and forms of the churches, the architecture and ornamentation, point to the West and not to the East." It is evident that Latin civilization was firmly planted in Illyria before the barbarian incursions of the 6th century. Latin sepulchral inscriptions and some finely cut marble blocks have been found at Berane, a little beyond the eastern frontier, and at Budimlye in its neighbourhood. Especially interesting and important are the extensive ruins of Doclea, now known as Dukle, the birthplace of the Emperor Diocletian. The city, which received the franchise under the Flavian emperors, occupied a remarkable site at the junction of the rivers Zeta and Moratcha. The outer walls are standing in many places, and excavations carried out in 1893 by M. Rovinski and Messrs J. A. R. Munro, Milne and Anderson revealed a considerable portion of the groundplan, including several streets and a forum. Among the buildings are a fine civil basilica, with a great inscription on the architrave, two small temples, an early Christian basilica, and a later church; several inscriptions, columns, richly worked capitals and tracery, and mosaic pavements have been brought to light. At Medun there are remnants of polygonal masonry. Illyrian forts are found in many parts of the country. The ravages of the Turks obliterated almost every trace of medieval culture. The fortress of Obod, the site of the famous printing-press, is a heap of ruins; a fragment of one of the first missals printed here is shown at Cettigne; it bears the date 1494. Other editions are prese ,ved at the monastery of Tzainitza, on the Bosnian side of the frontier, and at Moscow. The precious books and relics stored in the monastery of Ivan the Black at Cettigne perished with the destruction of the monastery in 1687. The building, the home of the reigning vladikas, had been previously sacked by the Turks in 1623, and was again destroyed by them in 1714. In the fortress-monastery of St Nicholas (founded in 1252), which overlooks the headwaters of the Moratcha, are some interesting and well-preserved frescoes which date from the 13th century. The monastery of Ostrog, about twelve miles from Nikshitch, is a comparatively recent foundation, dating from the 18th century. It has been styled "the Lourdes of the Balkans," owing to its reputation for miraculous cures, and is visited annually by thousands of Orthodox pilgrims, and even by Roman Catholics and Moslems. The upper portion, situated in the cleft of a precipitous rock, was in 1768 and again in 1862 successfully defended by a handful of men against the Turks.

History

The history of Montenegro as an independent state begins with the battle of Kossovo (1389), but the country had enjoyed periods of independence or semi-independence at various epochs before that event. It formed a portion of the district of Praevalitana in the Roman province of Illyria, and, lying on the borderland of the empires of the West and East, it alternately shared the fortunes of either till the close of the 5th century. It was then conquered by the Ostrogoths (A.D. 493), but half a century later definitely passed under Byzantine rule, having already acknowledged the ecclesiastical authority of Constantinople, a circumstance which determined the course of its subsequent history. Illyria and Dalmatia succumbed to the great SerboCroat invasion of the 6th and 7th centuries; the Serb race by which Montenegro is now inhabited occupied the country about the middle of the 7th century. A confederacy of Serb states was formed under zhupans, or feudal princes, dependent on the grand zhupan, who was nominally the vassal of the Greek emperor. The Serb principality of the Zeta, or Zenta, originally included the Herzegovina, Cattaro and Scutari, as well as the Montenegro of to-day, and was ruled by a zhupan resident at Doclea. The principality, though retaining its zhupans, was practically united with the Servian kingdom between 1159 and 1356 under the Nemanya dynasty, which sprang from Doclea. After the death of the great Servian tsar Dushan in 1356 the feudatory princes of his empire became more or less independent, and the powerful family of Balsha established a dynasty in the Zeta, eventually transferring its capital from Doclea to Scutari.

After the fatal defeat of Kossovo, which extinguished the independence of Servia for more than four centuries (see Servia), George Balsha, the ruling prince of the Zeta, withdrew to the mountainous portion of his realm, which became an asylum for many of the Servian nobles and for others who had been outlawed or persecuted by the Turkish conqueror. The principality now owned no suzerain, and the history of its heroic struggle with the Turks began. The long record of warfare is varied by conflicts with the Venetians, who at times allied themselves with the mountaineers, but usually deserted them in the hour of need. The Balsha family became extinct in 1421, and a new dynasty was founded by Stephan Tzernoyevitch, or Tzernovitch, who fixed his capital at Zhabliak on the north-east side of Lake Scutari, and joined with his relative, the famous Scanderbeg in many campaigns against the Turks. After the Turkish conquest of Bosnia in 1463, of the Herzegovina in 1476 and of Albania in 1478, and the surrender of Scutari by the Venetians in 1479, the Montenegrins found themselves surrounded on all sides by the Ottoman power, and the struggle was henceforth for existence. Abandoned by Venice and unable to obtain succour from any Christian state, Ivan the Black, the son and successor of Stephan, set fire to Zhabliak in 1484, and withdrew with his people to the mountain village of Tzetinye (Cettigne) which has ever since been the capital of the little principality. Here he founded the famous monastery and created a bishopric in order to establish the spiritual power at the seat of government. Ivan was one of the greatest heroes of Montenegrin history: according to the national legend, he still sleeps in a cave near his fortress of Obod - to awake when the hour arrives for the expulsion of the Turks from Europe.

The Tzernoyevitch dynasty came to an end in 1516, and from this date till 1696 the mountaineers were ruled by the vladikas The Elect or bishops of Cettigne, elected by assemblies of the. ch i efs and people, and consecrated by the patriarch of Ipek. The elective vladikas were aided in matters relating to national defence by a civil governor. The institution of a theocratic sovereignty probably saved the country from absorption in the Turkish Empire, the supreme power being vested in a sacrosanct person, whose position was unattainable by ambitious chieftains, and whose holy office precluded the possibility of his defection to Islam. The earlier vladikas were left comparatively unmolested by the Turks, and were enabled to devote their attention to the issue of numerous psalters, missals and gospels from the printing-press at Obod. But the beginning of the 17th century was marked by renewed Turkish aggression. Cettigne was taken in 1623 and again in 1687, when the monastery of Ivan the Black was blown up by the monks; a tribute was for a time imposed on the mountaineers, but the bolder spirits maintained their resistance in the heights, and the invading armies found it impossible to prolong their stay in these inhospitable regions.

In 1696 it was decided to continue the hereditary principle with the theocratic system, and Danilo Petrovitch of Niegush, the first ruler of the present reigning family, was nominated vladika with power to select his successor of Petro- p witch. from among his relatives. The succession was henceforth regularly from uncle to nephew, owing to the rule of celibacy imposed on the monastic order. The reign of Danilo I. was memorable for the massacre of the Moslems settled in the principality (the "Montenegrin vespers") on Christmas Eve 1702, the great defeat of the Turkish invaders at Tzarevlatz (1712), the capture of Cettigne by the Turks and the destruction for the third time of its monastery (1714), and the inauguration of the intimate relations which have ever since existed with Russia by the visit of the vladika to Peter the Great in 1715. With Russian aid Danilo was enabled in some degree to repair the ruin which had overtaken his little realm. In the time of his successor Sava (1737-1782) an impostor named Stephan Mali, who represented himself as the Russian emperor Peter III., won the confidence of the Montenegrins, and governed the country with ability for several years (1768-1773), the mountaineers defeating the combined efforts of the Turks and Venetians to remove him. He was eventually assassinated by a Greek suborned by the pasha of Scutari. Peter I. (1782-1830), the greatest of the vladikas, took part in the war of Austria and Russia against Turkey (1788-92), but was abandoned by his allies in the treaties of Sistova and Jassy. He nevertheless completely routed the Turks in the battle of Krussa (1796), annexed the Brda region to the principality, and obtained a formal recognition of Montenegrin independence from the sultan in 1799. In concert with the Russians he besieged the French in Ragusa (1806), and in 1813 -14 expelled them from the Bocche di Cattaro with the aid of a British fleet under Admiral Fremantle. The much-coveted seaport, however, was almost immediately occupied by an Austrian force. Peter I. reorganized the internal administration and promulgated the first Montenegrin code of laws. After his death he was canonized as a saint by the people. His successor Peter II. (1830-1851), a poet, statesman and reformer, as well as a capable military chief, instituted a senate (1831), abolished the office of civil governor (1832), revived the national printing-press, and did much to educate and civilize his people. He was buried by his desire on the summit of Mount Lovchen that his spirit might survey his beloved land. He was the last of the vladikas; his nephew Danilo II. (1851-1860) at once declined the ecclesiastical dignity, and assuming the title of gospodar, or prince, settled the succession on his direct male descendants. He defeated the Turks near Ostrog in 1853, but refrained from attacking them during the Crimean War. His pacific policy produced much discontent among the warlike mountaineers, which culminated in an open revolt. His demand for the recognition of Montenegrin independence and other claims were set aside by the Congress of Paris. In 1858 his brother Mirko, "the Sword of Montenegro," routed the Turks with great slaughter at Grahovo. In 1855 Danilo II. promulgated a new code, assuring civil and religious liberty to his subjects. On the 11th of August 1860 he was shot at Persano on the Bocche di Cattaro by a Montenegrin whom he had exiled after the revolt, and died two days afterwards. He left no male offspring, and was succeeded by Nicholas, the son of his brother Mirko.

Shortly after the accession of Prince Nicholas (Aug. 13, 1860), an insurrection broke out in Herzegovina, and the sympathy which the mountaineers displayed with their Pr Christian kinsmen led to a rupture with Turkey (1862). Notwithstanding the heroic defence of Ostrog by the prince's father, Mirko, the war proved disastrous, owing to the superior armament and discipline of the Turkish troops, and severe terms were imposed on the principality by the convention of Scutari (Aug. 31). During the fourteen years of peace which followed, the country suffered greatly from pestilence and famine. Within this period a series of reforms were carried out by the prince: the army was rearmed and reorganized, an educational system was initiated, and a constitution under which the prince surrendered various prerogatives to the Senate was granted. In 1869 the Krivoshians, or Serb inhabitants of the northern shores of the Bocche di Cattaro, rose against the Austrian government; the excitement in Montenegro was intense, but the prince succeeded in checking the warlike ardour of his subjects. The revolt in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1875 had more important consequences for the principality. On the 2nd of July 1876 Prince Nicholas, in alliance with Prince Milan of Servia, declared war against Turkey and invaded Herzegovina. A victory was gained at Vuchidol (July 28), and Medun was captured; but the Servian army suffered reverses, and an armistice was arranged in November. In the following spring the determination of Russia to take the field against Turkey encouraged the Montenegrins to renew the war. The Turks succeeded in occupying Ostrog, but were subsequently repulsed; the greater part of their forces was soon withdrawn to Bulgaria, and Prince Nicholas captured successively Nikshitch, Antivari and Dulcigno. The recovery of the seaboard, which had belonged to Montenegro in the middle ages, was perhaps the principal achievement of the war. The enlargement of territory stipulated for by Russia under the treaty of San Stefano (March 3, 1878) would have brought Montenegro into close contiguity with Servia, thus facilitating the eventual union of the Serb race and closing the path of Austria towards the Aegean. The Berlin Treaty (article xxviii.) gave to Montenegro Nikshitch, Spuzh, Podgoritza, Plava, Gusinye and Antivari, but restored Dulcigno to Turkey. The resistance of the Moslem inhabitants of Plava and Gusinye to annexation led to long negotiations, and eventually the "Corti Compromise" was agreed to by a conference of the Powers at Constantinople (April 18, 1880). Pla y a and Gusinye were to be restored to Turkey, while the Montenegrin frontier was extended so as to include the Hoti and the greater part of the Klementi tribes. This arrangement, which could hardly have proved successful, was not carried out by Turkey, and the Powers subsequently decided to annex Dulcigno to Montenegro in exchange for Playa and Gusinye. The Porte interposed delays, though consenting in principle, and the Albanian League (see Albania) assumed a menacing attitude. On the 28th of September the fleets of the Powers under Admiral Seymour appeared off Dulcigno, and the British government shortly afterwards proposed to occupy Smyrna. On the 11th of November the Porte yielded; on the 22nd the Turkish troops defeated the Albanians, and on the 25th Montenegro obtained possession of Dulcigno. The present frontier, as already described, was shortly afterwards delimited by an international commission. With the exception of some frontier troubles, the years since 1880 have been spent in peace, and the country has advanced in prosperity under the autocratic but enlightened rule of Prince Nicholas. The relations with Turkey, the traditional foe, have improved, while those with Austria have become less friendly. In July 1893 the four-hundredth anniversary of the foundation of the printing-press at Obod was celebrated at Cettigne, several foreign universities and learned bodies being represented at the festivities. In September 1896 the bi-centenary of the Petrovitch dynasty was commemorated. The marriage in the same year of Princess Helen, fourth daughter of Prince Nicholas, with the crown prince of Italy, subsequently King Victor Emmanuel III., led to an increase of Italian influence in the principality. In December 1900 Prince Nicholas assumed the title "Royal Highness." In October 1906 the first Montenegrin parliament assembled at Cettigne; and on the 28th of August 1910, Prince Nicholas (q.v.) assumed the title of king.

Authorities. - Milutinovitch, History of Montenegro (in Russian), (St Petersburg, 1835); Wilkinson, Dalmatia and Montenegro (London, 1848); Vuk Karajich, Montenegro and die Montenegriner (Stuttgart, 1857); Kallay, Geschichte der Serben von den altesten Zeiten bis 1815 (trans. from the Hungarian by J. H. Schwicker; Budapest, 1885), Servian trans., Istoria Srpskoga naroda, (Belgrade, 1876); Frilley and Wlahowitj, Le Montenegro contemporain (Paris, 1876); Rash, Montenegro (Leipzig, 1877); Milakovitch, Storia del Montenegro (Ragusa, 1877); Gopchevitch, Montenegro and die Montenegriner (Leipzig, 1877); Yriarte, Les Bords de l'Adriatique et le Montenegro (Paris, 1878); Stefanovitch von Vilovo, Wanderungen durch Montenegro (Vienna, 1880); Chiudina, Storia del Montenegro (Spalato, 1882); Tietze, Geologische Uebersicht von Montenegro (Vienna, 1884); Rovinsky, Tchernagora (in Russian; St Petersburg, 1888); Duchitch, Tzernagora (in Servian; Belgrade, 1891); Medakovitch, Pietro II. Petrovic Niegus (Neusatz, 1892); Hassert, Reise durch Montenegro (Vienna, 1893); Coquelle, Histoire du Montenegro et de la Bosnie (Paris, 1895); Miller, The Balkans, pp. 353-468 (London, 1896); Mantegazza, Al Montenegro (Florence, 1896); Tomanovitch, Petar Drugi Petrovich Niegosh (Cettigne, 1896); Antonio Martini, Il Montenegro (Turin, 1897); Bourchier, "Montenegro and her Prince," in Fortnightly Review (December, 1898); Rouvaratz, Montenegrina (in Servian; Semlin, 1899); Gelchitch, La Zedda e la dinastia dei Balsidi (Spalato, 1899); R. Wyon and G. Prance, The Land of the Black Mountain (London, 1903). The best map is that of the Austrian staff. (J. D. B.)