[8] Vladikas were elected for 180 years by clan chieftains and people on Montenegrin assembly called Zbor, an arrangement that was ultimately abandoned in favor of the hereditary system.

The very first of them, Vavila, had a relatively peaceful reign without many Ottoman incursions, devoting most of his time to maintenance of printing press on Obod.

Vukotić, the civil governor of Montenegro, repulsed him, and such was the zeal of the Montenegrins for the Christian cause, that they marched into Bosnia and raised the siege of Jajce, where the Hungarian garrison was closely hemmed in by Ottoman troops.

The next three vladikas, Paul, Nicodin, and Makarios, availed themselves of this long period of repose to increase the publications of the press, and numerous psalters and translations of the Gospels were produced in this small and remote Principality.

Pahomije, the prince-bishop at that moment, was unable to reach Ipek for the ceremony of consecration, and his authority was therefore weakened in the eyes of his people.

Rufim reinforced them with 500 Katunjani during the day and sent dozens of small three-members groups, in total amount of 50 warriors to spy and to attack the opponent from rear.

[10] Next year a still larger force of was collected by the newly appointed Sanjak-bey of Shkodër, Arslan-bey Balićević, to attack Montenegro.

Both armies failed, as the first was stopped in Lješkopolje without reaching Cetinje, and the second was defeated when Rufim personally led a side attack of 700 Katunjani to the aid of Piperi, Bjelopavlići and Rovčani forces which were already engaging the enemy around the village of Kosov Lug.

At once the Montenegrins attacked the Turkish garrisons, while the Kuči and Klimenti tribes on the Albanian border fell upon the main body near Podgorica and almost annihilated it, leaving Montenegro free from Ottoman rule.

A force of 300[15] Montenegrins ambushed the army of Topal Pasha, which numbered as much as 20.000 according to The Mountain Wreath,[16] on the narrow pass in Kameno field and routed it.

The replacement of Venice by Russia was especially significant, since it brought financial aid (after Danilo visited Peter the Great in 1715), modest territorial gain, and, in 1789, formal recognition by the Ottoman Porte of Montenegro's independence as a state under Petar I Petrović Njegoš.

During his trip to Russia his deputy and eventual successor Vasilije Petrović gained considerable respect among the tribes by giving support to those who were attacked by the Ottomans.

In 1766, a person known as Šćepan Mali ("Stephen the Little") appeared in Montenegro, rumoured to be Russian Emperor Peter III, who in fact had been assassinated in 1762.

After realizing how much respect he commanded, and that only he could keep Montenegrins together, Russian diplomat Dolgoruki abandoned his efforts to discredit Šćepan, even giving him financial support.

However, after the death of Sava (1781), the Montenegrin chiefs chose archimandrite Petar Petrović, who was a nephew of Metropolitan Vasilije, as successor.

With these victories, Petar I liberated and consolidated control over the Highlands (Brda) that had been the focus of constant warfare, and also strengthened bonds with the Bay of Kotor, and consequently the aim to expand into the southern Adriatic coast.

During his long rule, Petar strengthened the state by uniting the often quarreling tribes, consolidating his control over Montenegrin lands, and introducing the first laws in Montenegro.

His rule prepared Montenegro for the subsequent introduction of modern institutions of the state: taxes, schools and larger commercial enterprises.

By historical and literary consensus, Petar II, commonly called "Njegoš", was the most impressive of the prince-bishops, having laid the foundation of the modern Montenegrin state and the subsequent Kingdom of Montenegro.

This rivalry culminated in Petar II's era, though he came out victorious from this challenge and strengthened his grip on power by expelling many members of the Radonjić family from Montenegro.

He introduced the first taxes in 1833 against stiff opposition from many Montenegrins whose strong sense of individual and tribal freedom was fundamentally in conflict with the notion of mandatory payments to the central authority.

The Senate consisted of 12 representatives from the most influential Montenegrin families and performed executive and judicial as well as legislative functions of government.

[18] In Danilo I's Code, dated to 1855, he explicitly states that he is the "knjaz (duke, prince) and gospodar (lord) of the Free Black Mountain (Montenegro) and the Hills".