Monte, Pietro dal, a celebrated Italian ecclesi- astical canonist, was born at Venice in the latter part of the 15th century, xVfter studying Greek and Ital- ian under the direction of Guarino, he was made mas- ter of arts in Paris, and then obtained the rank of doctor in Padua, In 1433 he was made aiwstolic pro- thonotary, and in 1434 was sent by pope Eugenius IV to the council at Basle, He afterwards went to Pome to ask of her citizens, in the name of that council, a tax for liberating a nephew of the pope, whom cardinal Condolmieri had imprisoned. In 1434 he was sent to England to collect the taxes due the pontifical court. He remained in that country five years, during which time he became a favorite of the duke of Gloucester, uncle of the king. In 1442 he was made bishop of Brescia, a position which he held for two years. He was afterwards sent to France as legate of the Holy See, In 1447 he again visited Rome to assist in the ceremonies attending the ordination of pope Nicholas V, On his return to Brescia he founded many churches and a few religious institutions, JMonte died in 14.57, leaving a reputation worthy of a learned and pious man. His works are, Repertoriuni .luris utriusque (Bologna, 14G5, 3 vols, fol.) : — Mona>-cliin. in qua rieneralium conciliornm materia. (l< pn/i sla/i d /m'shni/ia Rnwaui I'oi/tijiri.i et Iinperulnn's (lisriii;//),- i\luuir. I i'Xt.lUt):— a Latin trans- lation of the Minioihnii Jjn-liariatia- of St. Epiphany (Home, 1523, 8vo). Some fragments of his discourses and letters have been published by cardinal Quirini in his I'r. BarbaH Epistol(T, t. ii, and in his A'pi.ttolce ad Btufdicttim. — Iloefer, Xoitv. Biog. Generate, s. v.
Montenat, BicsoiT, a French ecclesiastic, was born about the commencement of the lOth century; he was almoner to duke Charles of Bourbon, but he was so little known that his name cannot be found in the Biblioth'eque I'ran^aise of La Croix du Maine. At the rcijuest of Anne of France, daughter of Louis XI, he wrote in 1505 a treatise on the Conformite des proph'etes et Sibylles arec les dome articles de lafoi; this work remains imedited, and is preserved among the manu- scripts of the Imperial Library, No. 7287. See Paulin, Paris, Mdiiiisi-ri/s Fran^(tis de la bibliol/ieqtie du Roi, vii, 310.— Iloefcr, Xiiuv. Biog. (ieiierale, s, v,
Montenegro, called !)y the natives Tchemagora, and by the Turks Karadagh. i, e. Black JMountains, in view of the dark appearance of the wooded hills of this remarkably mountainous country, is a semi-independent Slavish jjrincipality, between lat, 42^ 10' and 42^ 5(j' N., and long, 18^ 41' and 20^ 22' E. ; bounded on the north by the Turkish provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
MONTENEGRO
535
MONTENEGRO
on the south and east by Albania, and on the west by the Dalmatian circle of Cattaro, and covering a terri- tory of about 1800 square miles, •with a population of about 130,000.
General Desaiption. — The country is very mountain- ous, and agriculture is therefore prosecuted to a moder- ate extent only, and in a very rude and primitive man- ner. The products are like those of other European lands of the same latitudes. " The general aspect of Montenegro," says Wilkinson, the celebrated English traveller, "is that of a succession of elevated ridges, diversified here and there by a lofty mountain -peak, and in some parts looking like a sea of immense waves turned into stone. Trees and bushes grow amid the crags, and in the rugged district of Ceoo the fissures in the rocks are like a glacier, which no liorse could pass over without breaking its legs. The momitains are all limestone, as in Dalmatia; but in no part of that coun- try do they appear to be tossed about as in Montenegro, where a circuitous track, barely indicated by some large loose stones, calling itself a road, enables a man on foot with difficulty to pass from the crest of one ascent to another. Some idea of the rugged character of the country may be formed from the impression of the people themselves, who say that ' when God was in the act of distributing stones over the eartli, the bag that held them burst, and let them all fall upon Montenegro.' The chief productions cultivated there are Indian corn and potatoes; cabbages, cauliflowers, and tobacco are also grown in gTeat quantities, and vegetables are among the principal exports of jMontenegro. Potatoes, indeed, have been a most profitable acquisition to the poor mountaineers, as well for home consumption as for exportation, since their introduction in 178G" {Dal- matia and Montenegro [London, 1848, 2 vols. 8vo], i, 411-413). Besides agriculture, the chief occupation of the Montenegrins is fishing. There are few who exercise any trade, though some perform the ofiices of blacksmiths, farriers, or whatever else their immediate wants may require. They are liuit together in clans and families, and have many feuds among themselves, which are perpetuated by the hereditary obligation of avenging blood. In their disposition towards strangers they are, like most mountaineers, hospitable and cour- teous, and bear a friendly feeling for those who sympa- thize with tlieir high notions of independence and de- votion to their country. They are cheerful in manner, and though very rude, yet by no means uncouth. Edu- cation among them is at a very low ebb; in fact, it is held in contempt, and many, even among the priests, are unable to read or Avrite. In 1841 several schools were estabhshed, and the art of printing introduced; but the unsettled state of the country has hitherto pre- vented much improvement. Their language is a very pure Servian dialect, called by Krasmski "the nearest of all the Slavonian dialects to the original Slavonic tongue; that is, that into which the Scriptures were translated by St. Cyril and Methodius in the 9th centurj^, and which still continues to be the sacred tongue of all the Slavonian nations who follow the Eastern Church."