Vasilije Petrović (Serbian Cyrillic: Василије Петровић; 1709 – 10 March 1766) was the metropolitan bishop of Cetinje (Prince-Bishop of Montenegro), ruling with Sava Petrović, his cousin. He was author of the History of Montenegro, published in 1754.
From 1744 to 1766, Metropolitan Vasilije Petrović Njegoš, Sava's coadjutator, became effectively the highest authority in Montenegro and its representative abroad. After Vasilije died at St. Petersburg in 1766, Sava again resumed his duties as Metropolitan (Prince-Bishop).
Contents
Background
The modern political history of Montenegro began with Metropolitan Danilo, a Metropolitan of Cetinje between 1697 and 1735 and the founder of a state ruled by a dynasty from the Petrović-Njegoš family. Danilo was eventually succeeded by his cousins, first by Sava Petrović, and then by Vasilije.
Bishop Sava was a secluded, contemplative man who 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. He also maintained good relations with the Republic of Venice.
Term
Background
Through the efforts of Metropolitan Sava, the Podmaine Monastery near Budva, dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was renovated and expanded in 1736, and the Stanjevići Monastery, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, was built in 1747. While Sava was in Russia, Archimandrite Vasilije replaced him on the chair of the Montenegrin Metropolitanate.
During his term, Vasilije ruled together with his cousin Sava as coadjutor. 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 Ottomans and then had to seek refuge in Russia. Sources state that he was the complete opposite of his predecessor, Sava Petrović. Sava was a seclusive, contemplative man, while Vasilije was bold, broad-minded and conceptual.
According to Sava Vuković, at the request of Metropolitan Sava, Vasilije prepared for the monastic order in the Peć Patriarchate, where he was probably tonsured. After passing through all the ranks, he was ordained an archimandrite. During Metropolitan Sava's stay in Russia, archimandrite Vasilije replaced him in all matters of an ecclesiastical and political nature. Due to the action he took in Venice in 1744, a tribal crisis occurred in Montenegro and a conflict with Sava Petrović. Later, relations improved.
Reign
Vasilije's reputation grew in Montenegro. He was an intermediary between the Patriarch of Peć in the Ottoman Empire and the Serbian Church in the Austrian lands. He first visited Karlovci as the Patriarch's envoy at the end of July 1749, during the National Assembly. In the spring of the following year, Atanasije II Gavrilović, the Patriarch of Peć, and three metropolitans sent Vasilije to the Russian emperor for alms. However, Vasilije stayed in Srem and visited the monasteries of Vrdnik and Karlovci. He then returned to Belgrade, where, on the recommendation of Sava, Atanasije II ordained him as the new Metropolitan of Cetinje and appointed him "Exarch of the Most Holy Throne of Peć" on August 22, 1750, in Belgrade. As exarch, Vasilije was sent to Vienna to return church property. He used his stay in Vienna to address Empress Maria Theresa with a memorandum, in which he explained the past of Montenegro and the Montenegrins' intention to become completely independent and therefore asked for the help of the Viennese court.
While Sava was in Russia, Vasilije travelled to the Republic of Venice with six elders in early April, where he addressed the Venetian Senate with a series of petitions on various matters. Upon Sava's return to Montenegro, a conflict arose between him and Vasilije. Vasilije was in favor of a constant fight with the Turks, and he also gladly watched the Montenegrins' plundering incursions into Venetian and Ragusan territory. Sava had the full support of the Venetians in suppressing Vasilije. Later, relations were smoothed over.
As he had a conflict with Metropolitan Nenadović, in March 1751, upon his return, he was banished to the Krušedol Monastery in Srem, and for that reason no attention was paid to his memorandum. After a few months, he was released from custody, and in mid-July 1751 he returned to Zadar and from there to Montenegro. Working to strengthen ties with Russia, Metropolitan Vasilije went to Russia three times. During his stay in Vienna between 1750 and 1766, he asked Empress Maria Theresa to take Montenegro under her protection and unsuccessfully tried to convince her that "since the time of Alexander the Great" Montenegro had been a "separate republic.. [over which] rules her metropolitan". On this occasion, Vasilije realized that he could not expect any significant help from Austria, so he turned completely to Russia.
In the spring of 1752, he traveled to Russia with the recommendation of Metropolitan Sava and Montenegrin leaders. At the beginning of 1753, he arrived in Moscow. Vasilije was well received in Russia, and he established numerous contacts with Russian dignitaries. He raised the issue of the migration of Montenegrins to Russia and the issue of the state status of Montenegro. The Russian government suggested that as the Montenegrins did not pay tribute to the Turks and were in constant war with them they were therefore a free people.
Aftermath
On the recommendation of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs, Empress Catherine II ordered that Vasilije's legacy be transferred to Montenegro, and for this purpose she appointed Lieutenant Mikhail Tarasov, accompanied by translator Ivan Šefer, to go to Montenegro together with Josif Vukićević and Petar Petrović. When they arrived in Montenegro, Tarasov presented Sava with 1,500 rubles in aid. Tarasov's report on Montenegro was said to be quite different from Puchkov's.
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 Šćepan Mali who claimed to be the Russian Tsar Peter III himself, managed to convince the people that he should rule Montenegro. 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.
Sava returned to serve as metropolitan once again, and after him, his nephew, Arsenije Plamenac of Crmnica, became the Metropolitan of Cetinje between 1781 and 1784 and earlier the co-adjutor to Metropolitan Sava Petrović during the reign of Šćepan Mali (1767–73). But Arsenije, too, was soon to die, in 1784. Once again, a member of the house of Petrović-Njegoš, now Petar I Petrović-Njegoš, was inaugurated.
Literary works
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 Černoj Gori (History of Montenegro), published in St. Petersburg in 1754, is his most renowned work. Through accounts from ordinary citizens, the book represented the first attempt to write the history of Montenegro.
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. It put forth the idea of Montenegrin independence for the first time, though it did not have a large immediate impact. Parts of the Cetinje chronicle, a collection of manuscripts (letters, documents, reports and poems), are also attributed to him, as well as him adding his own writings to it.
