Danilo Petrovic-Njegoš

(Danilo 1). Born about 1670, in the village of Njegusi, Montenegro; died Jan. 11, 1735, in the monastery Podmajne, in Njegusi.

He became prince-bishop of Montenegro in 1697 and founded the Njegos dynasty. Trying to liquidate tribal separatism, he created in 1713 a legal body consisting of 12 tribal elders. During his administration, in 1711, Montenegro established relations with Russia for the first time. In 1711 it supported Russia militarily in the Russo-Turkish War of 1710–13. He made a trip to St. Petersburg that aided the strengthening of relations between Montenegro and Russia.

(Danilo 1). Born May 25. 1826, in the village of Njegusi, Montenegro; died Aug. I. 1860. in Kotor. Prince of Montenegro; acceded in 1851.

With Russian support Danilo II established a secular form of rule in Montenegro and in 1852 pronounced himself prince. He reorganized the state apparatus and the army and limited tribal separatism. In 1855 he introduced the General Law Code of Montenegro, which combined common law with a number of principles of bourgeois law. He won international recognition of the sovereignty of Montenegro and supported the anti-Turkish movement in the Balkans (aiding the uprising in Hercegovina in 1857–58). His country won several territories from Turkey in the war of 1857–58. The Montenegrin emigrant Kadic assassinated him in 1860.