Donji Brčeli is an Orthodox monastery founded by the Serbian noblewoman Jelena Balšić Kosača between the 14th and 15th centuries. Restored in 1861 to restore the appearance lost due to a fire set by the Ottomans, it is part of the monumental heritage of the village of Virpazar (Montenegro) and still houses a religious community. On September 22, 1773, a great shock shook the monks, as at dawn they discovered the slashed body of their honored guest, whose remains rest there today: Šcepan Mali (Stephen the Little), the first and only tsar of the country, who was said to actually be the deposed emperor of Russia, Peter III.
As his name suggests, Charles Peter Ulrich of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp was German by birth, born in Kiel. But, as the offspring of Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna Romanova (the eldest daughter of Tsar Peter I the Great), who was orphaned when he was eleven years old, he ended up becoming the heir to the Russian throne when his aunt, Elizabeth I, summoned him for that purpose, as she had no offspring. She died in 1762, and he indeed took over as Peter III, although he was never crowned because he only reigned for one hundred and eighty-six days.
During that time, he pursued a clumsy policy, both externally, by signing peace with Prussia (Peter admired Frederick the Great) and planning a campaign against the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway that was unrelated to Russian interests, and internally, by alienating the nobility and the army by excluding them from the distribution of positions and commands in favor of his German friends, as well as the clergy by forcing them to shave their beards (a traditional symbol of wisdom). Given the rumor that he also planned to marry his mistress after repudiating his wife, the also German Catherine, she led a conspiracy that overthrew him.
She took power under the name of Catherine II the Great, and he was confined to the Ropsha Palace (St. Petersburg), where a few days later he was found dead, officially from bleeding due to hemorrhoids, but in reality, probably strangled. However, the memory of the deposed tsar survived thanks to his son and heir, Grand Duke Paul (the future Paul I), who adopted his father’s Prussian customs, as a Russian version of sebastianism soon spread, which the aforementioned Šcepan Mali took advantage of to proclaim himself tsar in Montenegro.
Sebastianism was a mystical-secular movement that arose in Portugal in the second half of the 16th century, based on the belief that King Sebastian I had not died in 1578 at the Battle of Alcácer Quibir, but had somehow survived and would return to his kingdom to reclaim his throne and restore order, expelling his successors, Cardinal Henry I and King Philip II of Spain. This messianism had also occurred in Spanish territory during the Revolt of the Brotherhoods (a rebellion against Charles I) in the figure of El Encubierto (a hypothetical grandson of the Catholic Monarchs) and even earlier, with the various imposters who tried to impersonate Nero after his death.
Something similar happened in Russia, and not just once but many times, especially when the tsar did not come from a fully established dynasty or when a ruler was founding his own. This was the case, for example, with the many “Dimitris” that emerged during the reign of Boris Godunov, who took over the regency after the death of Ivan IV the Terrible and eventually declared himself tsar (the “Dimitris” referred to Tsarevich Dmitry Ivanovich, Ivan’s youngest son, who was only three years old at his father’s death and was exiled after a revolt in his name was suppressed).
Likewise, the situation repeated itself in Montenegro due to the widespread rumor that Peter III was still alive and now returning from exile, something reinforced by the emergence of numerous impostors; one was the Cossack ataman Yemelyan Pugachev, who even led an uprising against Catherine the Great in 1773. By then, she was already experienced in dealing with such situations, as the episode of Šcepan Mali had occurred five years earlier.
The fact that this took place in Montenegro instead of Russia was not unrelated to the interests of the empress, since it was the last European state of Orthodox faith that was free from Ottoman domination, although it was a tributary. The mountainous nature of its territory and the progressive loss of power of the neighboring Republic of Venice helped it maintain that precarious independence. Its form of state was peculiar, a mixture of principality and hereditary bishopric governed by the Petrović-Njegoš dynasty since 1697.
The ruler was known as vladika (prince and bishop at the same time), and this role had been held since 1735 by Sava II Petrović, a scholar uninterested in governing, under whose rule popular discontent spread: the haiduques (bandits) roamed freely, and the Ottomans conducted periodic raids, which, seeing Sava’s weakness, they decided to escalate into a campaign of conquest. This forced Montenegro to seek help from Russia, but Empress Elizabeth made no commitments, and Sava eventually turned to Prussia.
That initiative was very poorly received, and in 1744 he had to abdicate in favor of his companion Vasilije III, who eventually obtained Russian support to confront the sultan. His death in 1766 led to the return of Sava and a reversion to disorder, with the country divided into warring clans and the government desperately turning to the Venetians. It was the perfect breeding ground for a Slavic form of Sebastianism, and all that was needed was the appearance of someone willing to embody it. That figure emerged in the form of Šćepan Mali.
It is not known where or when he was born, as his entry into history occurred precisely that year. It was in a village called Maine, located north of the city of Budva, which, being on the coast, was under Venetian control. Šćepan was a doctor, and this earned him popularity among the people, who quickly spread the rumor that he was Peter III of Russia. The mystery surrounding his origins only strengthened the belief, which he neither admitted nor denied, and apocryphal anecdotes began to circulate: that he bore a suspicious resemblance to the missing tsar, that he had wept upon hearing mention of Tsarevich Paul…
At one point, Šćepan took a step forward and issued a proclamation to the people, urging them to unite in the Orthodox faith, end internal divisions, and liberate the Balkans from Islam. The clans hesitated, but he remained firm, persisted, and eventually got them to sign a peace agreement. The people became enthusiastic and officially recognized him as Peter III, including Sava, despite knowing it was an imposture because he had been to Russia and personally met the deposed tsar. When he tried to reveal the truth at the behest of the Russians, no one paid attention to him, and he ended up being deposed and confined in a monastery.
It was February 1768. In just over a year, Šćepan had managed to seize absolute control of Montenegro, proclaiming himself tsar; it was the first time that title was used in the country and would be the last. He wisely respected the local authorities and separated civil and religious powers, so that priests and monks would not obstruct his programs. The enthusiasm he generated was such that the border regions stopped paying tribute to Venice and Constantinople; some military units even occupied territories previously lost, raising the new standard.
This aroused curiosity and anticipation in Europe. Everyone knew that Šćepan was an impostor, but he was proving useful against the Ottoman Empire and to diminish Russia’s influence in the region. Of course, things were seen differently in Moscow. The Russian ambassador in Constantinople, who initially did not give the matter the slightest importance, changed his mind after receiving a letter from Sava asking whether Peter III had truly died or not, and recommended expelling him from Montenegro as soon as possible if they wished to maintain Russia’s favor. As we saw, Sava was overwhelmed by the circumstances and was the one who ended up being sidelined.
Shrewdly, Šćepan sent envoys to the Russian embassy in Vienna with the intention of calming tensions and, incidentally, being recognized de facto as the Montenegrin tsar if he could establish diplomatic relations. But he failed in the attempt. The Russian ambassadors wrote to Catherine the Great referring to him with disdain, and she responded by sending a letter to the Montenegrin nobles assuring them that Peter III was dead and threatening to withdraw financial aid and even invade if they did not depose him. Unfortunately for her, the person tasked with delivering the document was unable to reach Montenegro as he was barred from entering Venetian territory.
The same happened with a collaborator of Šćepan whom they had bribed. The Montenegrin tsar managed to escape all the traps set for him, whether they were poisoning attempts or coastal blockades courtesy of the Venetians, or a preventive Ottoman invasion that was repelled despite being outnumbered, thanks to the emerging national spirit, heavy rains that spoiled the enemy artillery’s gunpowder, and the sultan’s decision to withdraw his troops to send them against a new adversary, Russia, which had just declared war on him, fearing he would seize the last Christian stronghold in the Balkans.
Prince and General Yuri Vladimirovich Dolgorukov was sent in 1769 by Catherine to coordinate the Russian expeditionary force with those of Montenegro and the Peloponnese (where Greek Christians were resisting the authority of the Eyalet of Morea through guerrilla warfare). Dolgorukov met Šćepan in the aforementioned monastery of Donji Brčeli, where they conversed for eight hours in what the Russian deemed a waste of time, considering the visit useless, despite the Montenegrin gradually softening his initial haughtiness.
The officers accompanying Dolgorukov on his mission were also present, and thanks to them, a succinct description of someone who, in their view, was the antithesis of a tsar has been preserved: young, apparently in his thirties; of medium height, with a smooth and pale face, long, curly black hair combed back, and a voice that was too thin. He dressed in the Hellenic style, with a white tunic, a red cap, and a chain slung across his shoulder from which a religious icon hung. He also smoked a Turkish pipe and spoke rapidly.
Nevertheless, the arrival of Russian troops boosted the people’s morale, and in many places, they engaged in skirmishes with the Ottomans along the borders. Dolgorukov deemed those actions premature and, fearing the situation might slip out of his control, issued a letter condemning the attacks. Because, aside from the Ottomans, his hidden mission was to eliminate Šćepan, and for that reason, he planned the next step in the very capital, Cetinje, where he arranged another meeting with the Montenegrin elites.
Fearing a trap, the Tsar did not attend and attempted a counter-move: discrediting the Russians as secret envoys of Venice sent to divide the people. Unfortunately for him, the people were patriotically enthusiastic about the idea of driving out the Ottomans with Russian help, and they had no problem turning their backs on their messianic leader, swearing loyalty to Russia, and recognizing Catherine the Great as their ruler. Satisfied with the success achieved so unexpectedly quickly, Dolgorukov and his men withdrew to rest at the monastery.
They did not expect to wake up the way they did. Šcepan still had many supporters and appeared with them at the monastery, ready to confront the Russian in a face-to-face dialectical showdown. That peculiar argumentative duel lasted several hours, and in the end, with no possible agreement, Dolgorukov urged the nobles to seize the impostor. When they hesitated, he gave the order to his own men, with the addition that they should kill him if he resisted. The Montenegrins, not wanting his death, remained still, and Šcepan was confined for interrogation.
The questions, unsurprisingly, focused on his origin. He insisted that he had never identified himself as Peter III, but was reluctant to reveal his background, even under the threat of torture: sometimes he claimed to be a vagabond, other times that he was born in Ioánina (false, as he didn’t speak Greek), or that he was a Dalmatian named Rajčević. The Russians seemed content with his acknowledgment that he was not Peter III, and they publicly read a retraction to that effect which they had made him sign. They also claimed that the Montenegrins wanted to lynch him, but they had prevented it.
With the power vacuum, Dolgorukov took the reins of government as the representative of Catherine the Great; then he realized the hornet’s nest he had stepped into. The people turned against him for ordering the cessation of attacks against the Ottomans while waiting for Russian reinforcements; the people wanted to fight now. Additionally, he feared that they might try to assassinate him because the Ottoman Empire had put a price on his head. And to top off that precarious position, he learned that the Venetians had also tried to poison him several times.
When his headquarters blew up, and with no news of the expected arrival of Russian troops, he left Montenegro, boarding a ship that took him to the Burčele monastery, in present-day Serbia, to spend the winter there. However, in the end, he went to the Stanojevici monastery in present-day Bosnia-Herzegovina at Sava’s suggestion, as he was with him and it was his monastery. The bishop continued to maintain contacts with his friends in Venice, something Dolgorukov was well aware of, and therefore gave him very little information about his plans.
Šcepan was also transferred to Stanojevici, so he could be closely monitored; a wise move, as shortly after leaving, there was an attempt to free him. Judging that executing him for his imposture would stir up the hornet’s nest again, Dolgorukov made an unusual plot twist by pardoning him, appointing him an officer of the Russian Empire, and once again handing him the government of Montenegro. The reasons? He had proven to be politically competent and more reliable than Sava, who was clearly in league with the Venetians. In return, Šcepan facilitated the Russians’ passage through the mountains.
The Montenegrins had little problem accepting their leader again, even though he no longer carried his previous aura because now he was supported by Russia. However, Russia never sent the promised troops, making it impossible to start the desired war against the Ottomans, so the measures initially adopted with that goal in mind were abandoned. One of these was the construction of a road through the mountains, which almost cost Šcepan his life when a mine exploded while it was being laid, seriously wounding him.
He lost an eye and became paralyzed, which required him to be carried in a sedan chair donated by the neighboring Republic of Ragusa from then on. But he would still live for five more years, during which he conducted Montenegro’s first-ever census to distribute the weapons left by Dolgorukov. He continued to wait in vain for Russian aid, which diminished his prestige, although in 1772, he partially regained it when another war broke out between the Russians and the Ottomans, which, despite everything, would not amount to anything. Instead, he restored peace with Venice and, to maintain it, did not hesitate to brutally punish anyone who attacked the interests of the Serenissima Republic.
Meanwhile, Šcepan focused his policy on internal matters and convened multiple assemblies with the clans and nobles to strengthen national unity, even going so far as to introduce the death penalty—previously unheard of in the country—for those who promoted private interests to the detriment of the general ones and persisted in their traditional blood feuds; also to put an end to banditry, which had reemerged in his absence; a dozen chosen among the most respected tribal chiefs would pass sentences through the so-called Tribunal of the Twelve.
However, the Ottoman Empire was not at ease, and since Šcepan’s return, they had been seeking a way to get rid of him. It was the mutasarrif (governor) of Albania, Kara Mahmud Pasha, who took charge of the matter. And in an expeditious manner, no less, as he bribed a Greek from Morea who had just entered the service of the Montenegrin Tsar to assassinate his new master. And he did so, as we mentioned at the beginning, in the monastery of Donji Brčeli. Šćepan Mali went from being the first Tsar of Montenegro to the last; and the only one.
This article was first published on our Spanish Edition on August 20, 2024: Šcepan Malí, el primer y único zar de Montenegro, que se hacía pasar por el ruso Pedro III
SOURCES
Barbara Jelavich, History of the Balkans. Eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
Zdenko Zlatar, The Poetics of Slavdom: The Mythopoeic Foundations of Yugoslavia
Robert K. Massie, Catalina la Grande. Retrato de una mujer
Wikipedia, Šćepan Mali
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