Staniša Radonjić

Staniša Radonjić
Born	Staniša Radonjić Rajićević Njeguši, Old Montenegro (now Montenegro)
Occupation	priest, clan chief, military commander,
Years active	fl. 1682, 1693
Employer	Visarion Borilović, Metropolitan of Cetinje 1674-1692 Sava Očinić, Metropolitan of Cetinje 1692-1697
Title	knez vojvoda serdar

Staniša Radonjić (Serbian Cyrillic: Станиша Радоњић), known as Staniša Popov (Станиша Попов; fl. 1682 - 1693), was a Serbian Orthodox priest, vojvoda of the Njeguši tribe, and serdar of the Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro.

Life

Staniša was born the son of a priest (hence popov), of the Radonjić-Rajićević brotherhood. He is believed to be first mentioned in the mid-17th-century as living in Njeguši. He was a priest, and the chief of the Njeguši tribe, a vojvoda. In 1682, he gave the mitre (a ceremonial head-dress for bishops), which he had paid for to be done, to the treasury of Cetinje as a gift to Serbian Orthodox Metropolitan Visarion Borilović (held office 1674-1692). In 1687, Staniša gains notability in the trade relations with Kotor, which at the time was part of the Republic of Venice. That year Staniša and Ivan Maričević obliged to the Kotoran court that they would purchase fine wool within ten days from the receival of 435 reals from captain Bernard Paulući. On 8 September 1693, he is mentioned (as Stanissa Popov del Comune di Gnegussi) in the agreement between the katun tribes and the Venetian government (the Dalmatian providur) in Kotor. In 1700, Staniša becomes creditor to the Venetian Republic.

In 1697, Danilo Šćepčević of the Petrović-Heraković brotherhood of Njeguši was appointed Metropolitan of Cetinje. This marked the beginning of what is known in modern historiography as the Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro under the hereditary Metropolitans of Cetinje of the Petrović family. It is believed that Metropolitan Danilo adopted the title of serdar in his government in 1718, when he appointed "guvernaduri and some serdari and knezovi ... to judge and discipline the people". Of these appointed serdari, Staniša is the only one known in historiography. In the beginning, Staniša was only the serdar of a nahija, however, thanks to the prominence of his family and relations to the Venetians, he seized the title as the title of serdar of all of Montenegro. His seal, found in Venetian archives, reads "Staniša, the priest's son, serdar of Montenegro" (»staniša popov srdar černie gori«). As Staniša became serdar and the title became hereditary to the Radonjić brotherhood, the Njeguši tribe was led by the serdar instead of the earlier vojvoda. Later, the significance of the serdar of all Montenegro fell, and it remained as a traditional function of a manager, now under the name of guvernadur.

He died in ca. 1720. He had three sons: Vukoslav (Vukosav), Jovan (Jovo) and Marko. After him, his son Vuk, his grandson Stano and his great-grandson Vukolaj III held the position of guvernadur until 1832.

Legacy

• On the (right) central icon of Jesus Christ with the apostles in the church of Holy Mary (Sv. Gospodja) on Njeguši, the work of Maksim Tujković from 1720, it mentions the children of Staniša: Vukosav, Jovo and Mark.
• In that same church, Staniša is mentioned in an inscription by Rafailo Dimitrijević from 1756.
• In the folk song about the events from the historical period encompassing his tenure as Serdar c. 1719, the words Stanišić Tower and Stanišić Vuk are mentioned.

Family

He had three sons:

• Vuk (or Vukosav/Vukajlo/Vukale/Vukolaj I), priest and serdar of all Montenegro
  • Stanislav "Stano" Radonjić (1690-1758), vojvoda, serdar, first guvernadur (1756-1758)
    • Vukajlo/Vukale (or Vukolaj II), guvernadur (1758-1764)
    • Jovan (Joko), guvernadur (1764-1802)
      • Vukolaj III, guvernadur (1804-1832)
• Jovo Popov
• Marko