The House of Petrović-Njegoš (Serbian Cyrillic: Петровић-Његош, pl. Petrović-Njegoši / Петровић-Његоши) is the Serbian[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] noble family that ruled Montenegro from 1697 to 1916.
Montenegro was ruled from its inception by vladikas (prince-bishops) since 1516, who had a dual temporal and spiritual role. In 1697, the office was made hereditary in the Petrović-Njegoš family. However, since Orthodox bishops are required to be celibate, the crown passed from uncle to nephew. In 1852, Prince-Bishop Danilo II opted to marry and to secularize Montenegro, becoming Prince Danilo I. His successor, Nikola I, raised Montenegro to a kingdom in 1910. In 1916, King Nikola I was ousted by the invasion and occupation of his country by Austria-Hungary. He was formally deposed by the Podgorica Assembly in 1918 and the country merged with Kingdom of Serbia and shortly thereafter merged again with the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs to form the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
A period of eighty years of control from Belgrade followed, during which time Nikola I died in exile in France in 1921, followed shortly afterwards by the surprise abdication of his son and heir, Danilo III, the same year. The latter's nephew, Michael Petrović-Njegoš, inherited the titles of his predecessors whilst in exile in France, and he survived arrest and internment by order of Adolf Hitler for refusing to head up a puppet Montenegrin state aligned to the Axis Powers. Later, he served the SFR Yugoslavia as Head of Protocol. He was succeeded by his son Nicholas Petrović-Njegoš in 1986. Nicholas returned to Montenegro to support the Montenegrin independence movement that went on to achieve full sovereignty in the 2006 referendum.
In 2011, Montenegro recognized an official role for the Royal House of Petrović-Njegoš in Montenegro: to promote Montenegrin identity, culture and traditions through cultural, humanitarian and other non-political activities, which has been interpreted as a "creeping restoration" of the monarchy.[8]
"Bogut" or "Boguta" is believed to be the oldest known ancestor of the Petrović-Njegoš family.[9] Bogut was alive at the time of the Battle of Velbazhd (1330) and the building of Visoki Dečani,[10] and perhaps into the 1340s.[9] According to tradition, and recorded by some historians, the ancestors of the Petrović family settled in Muževice at the end of the 14th century, from the Bosnia region, from the area of Zenica or Travnik.[11] It is possible that Bogut at that time had moved to Drobnjaci with his son, Đurađ.[12] Đurađ or some of his sons were in the entourage of Marko Drago, an affluent Serbian nobleman who had served Serbian lord Vuk Branković (1345-1397), and as such they are believed to have also served the Branković family.[13] Đurađ and his five sons "from Drobnjaci" are mentioned in a document dating March 1, 1399,[12] in which they gave several items to the depository of Dapko Vasilijev, an affluent Kotoran nobleman.[14]
On the 12 July 2011 the Parliament of Montenegro adopted the Law on the Status of the Descendants of the Petrović Njegoš Dynasty.[8][15]