Petar II Petrović-Njegoš
Petar II Petrović-Njegoš was born Radivoje "Rade" Petrović on in the mountain village of Njeguši, near Cetinje. His father, Tomislav "Tomo" Petrović (b. 1762–63), was a member of the Petrović clan of the Njeguši tribe of Katuni "nahiya". Njegoš's mother, Ivana Proroković, hailed from the hamlet of Mali Zalaz and was the daughter of Njeguši captain Lazo Proroković. There is no reliable information about her exact year of birth, but it is believed that she was about ten years younger than her husband. Tomo and Ivana had five children; their eldest son was Petar ("Pero"), Rade was their middle son and Jovan ("Joko") was their youngest. The couple's daughters were named Marija and Stana; Marija was married to a Montenegrin chieftain named Andrija Perović, the "serdar" (count) of Cuce, while Stana was married to Filip Đurašković, the "serdar" of Rijeka Crnojevića.
Petar I Petrović-Njegoš
The son of Marko and Anđelija (née Martinović), Petar followed the footsteps of his relatives, becoming a monk and a deacon. He spent four years in Imperial Russia, finishing the Military School (1765–69). In 1778, archimandrite Petar was in Russia with "guvernadur" Jovan Radonjić and "serdar" Ivan Petrović. Metropolitan Sava Petrović (s. 1735–1781), who died in 1781, chose his nephew and co-adjutor Arsenije Plamenac the successor, which was met with opposition from the Montenegrin tribes at the beginning, later switching in favour after Sava gained the support of Šćepan Mali, the false tsar and ruler of Montenegro. Plamenac was inactive and had little power, serving as metropolitan between 1781 and his death in 1784. The "guvernadur" family of Radonjić, which had Venetian support and then Austrian, increased their power and sought to push aside the Petrović metropolitans. The chieftains had suggested Petar the bishop seat already in 1783, and he was then sent to the Habsburg Monarchy to be ordained.