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 II Petrović-Njegoš
News of the defeat at Grahovo soon reached Saint Petersburg and, paired with the allegations of financial misappropriation, cemented his reputation among the Russians as that of an aggressive provocateur. Njegoš immediately sought permission from the chieftains to travel to Saint Petersburg and explain himself before the czar, given that Montenegro was increasingly desperate for Russian financial and political aid. The chieftains gave Njegoš their blessing, and he headed to Vienna before receiving any response from the Russians regarding his initial request. Njegoš was obliged to stay in Vienna for several weeks as the czar contemplated whether to grant him an audience. In Vienna, Njegoš spent more time with Karadžić, who had just returned from researching Slavic linguistic traits in Montenegro and was in the process of writing a German-language ethnographic study on the country titled "Montenegro und die Montenegriner" ("Montenegro and the Montenegrin"). Njegoš's meetings with Karadžić caught the attention of Austrian Chancellor Klemens von Metternich. Metternich's distrust of Njegoš was exacerbated by the young "vladika"'s request for a visa to travel to France, then considered a breeding ground of radical ideas. Metternich saw to it that the request was denied. In a letter to one of his subordinates, he noted that Njegoš had "spiritually and physically developed". He went on to say that Njegoš had "little respect for the principles of religion and monarchy, is not firm firm in them, and is given to liberal and revolutionary ideas." He ended his message with a note stating that the Njegoš was to be closely monitored by Austrian agents both abroad and at home.