Danilo I Šćepčević Petrović-Njegoš known simply as Vladika Danilo (b. 1670, in Njeguši - d. January 11, 1735, Podostrog-Podmaine monastery) was a Serbian Orthodox Metropolitan

Metropolitan

Metropolitan may refer to:* A metropolis* A metropolitan area* A metropole, "mother country", or central part of a colonizing state* Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see"...

 of Cetinje

Cetinje

Cetinje , Цетиње / Cetinje , Italian: Cettigne, Greek: Κετίγνη, Ketígni) is a town and Old Royal Capital of Montenegro. It is also a historical and the secondary capital of Montenegro , with the official residence of the President of Montenegro...

 1697-1735. He styled himself "vojevodič srpskoj zemlji" (Duke of the Serb land).

Biography

Danilo Šćepčević was born in circa 1670, in Njeguši

Njeguši

Njeguši is a village in southern Montenegro, within Cetinje municipality. It is located on the slopes of Mount Lovćen, within Lovćen national park....

. He is credited as the founder the Petrović-Njegoš dynasty in Montenegro

Montenegro

Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...

 in 1696. After coordinating defense operations and settling, at least partially, tribal (family) disputes among his people, Danilo launched a struggle against the Ottomans in 1711. During his rule political ties between Russia and Montenegro were first established. In 1715, Danilo visited Czar Peter I at St. Petersburg and secured his alliance against the Ottomans — a journey that became traditional among his successors in Montenegro and in all the Serbian lands elsewhere in the Balkans. He subsequently recovered Zeta from the Ottomans, restored the monastery at Cetinje, and erected defences around Podostrog-Podmaine Monastery in Budva which was rebuilt in 1630 and served as a summer residence of the ruling family of Montenegro. In the text written on the manuscript gospel, his gift to Serb Patriarchate of Peć

Patriarchate of Pec

The Patriarchate of Peć is a Serbian Orthodox monastery located near Peć. The complex of churches is the spiritual seat and mausoleum of the Serbian archbishops and patriarchs....

, in 1732, Danilo proudly expressed himself as "Danil Njegoš, the Bishop of Cetinje, the leader of the Serbian land."

External links

• Vladika Danilo on montenet.org - in english
• Preserved Vladika Danilo's Letters - in Serbian
• Official website of the Royal House of Montenegro.
• The Njegoskij Fund Public Project : Private family archives-based digital documentary fund focused on history and culture of Royal Montenegro.