Читать книгу The Mountains of Montenegro. A Walker's and Trekker's Guide онлайн

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The Slavs arrived during the sixth century AD, the earliest Slavonic realm on the Adriatic being an area around the Bay of Kotor and Lake Skadar, known as Zeta. Among the Slavic tribes to enter the region were the Serbs, who arrived in the seventh century, settling around the area of inland Montenegro and the modern plain of Kosovo, an area known as Raška. Zeta and subsequently Raška rose to prominence from the ninth century, and during the 12th–14th centuries the medieval Serbian state, under the Nemanja dynasty, attained true artistic and political greatness. This was extinguished by the advance of the Ottoman Turks during the 14th century, who defeated the Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian armies on the plains of Kosovo in 1389.

During the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans Montenegro began to develop its own religious and cultural identity, distinct from that of Serbia, under the Crnojević dynasty, who established a small semi-independent principality in the area inland from the coastal ranges, with its capital at Cetinje. From 1516 its rulers, known as Vladikas, were elected from the monastery at Cetinje. From the end of the 17th century power was passed from uncle to nephew, remaining in the hands of the Petrović dynasty. Montenegrin resistance to Ottoman rule was determined, and Ottoman recognition of Montenegro came in 1789, under the ruler Petar I Petrović Njegoš. Petar II Petrović Njegoš, who came to power in 1830, played an important role in organizing central government; he was also a great poet, whose masterpiece, Gorski Vijenac (‘The Mountain Wreath’), was printed in 1847 Under Prince Nikola Petrović Montenegro increased its territory, these gains being recognized by the Treaty of San Stefano in 1878. Montenegro’s first constitution was introduced in 1905.