Good morning! Scepan the Little is the most interesting ruler in Montenegrin history. Who was this mysterious man, why the church does not tolerate him even today, and why his name is now synonymous with fraudster, even though he was actually a forerunner and harbinger of the modern and secular Montenegrin state.
Don’t forget to join our Viber community where we share information in real time and answer your questions directly.
A man to kill
Last night in Budva, the famous Russian writer Vyacheslav Kuritsyn gave a lecture for the Russian-speaking community about Scepan the Little in the film and in life. He did it through an interesting and little-known film by Veljko Bulajic, A Man to Kill, made in 1979. Vyacheslav has been staying in Budva for a long time and knows Montenegro very well. The lecture was about Scepan the Little, but also about Veljko Bulajic, the Croatian-Montenegrin director, born in Vilusi near Niksic in 1928. The full movie for free viewing is available at this link.
The film is a fantasy and places the whole story about the appearance of a false emperor in Montenegro in the relationship between hell and the church and the balance agreed between them on earth. Bulajic moves the death of the Russian Emperor Peter III to 1766, in order to directly connect it with the appearance of Scepan in Maine, Montenegro. Although the official historical version says that Peter III died of natural causes after being dethroned, it is very likely that he was murdered. The myth says that he was killed by his wife, Catherine II the Great, whose later memoirs made it clear that she had neither love nor respect for him. The little German prince from Kiel, Germany, who wanted and should have been the king of Sweden, ended up with court intrigues at the head of Russia, which he did not like very much. Nevertheless, Peter III, although often characterized as infantile, passed over 300 laws in Russia during his 200-day reign. The man was a reformer, who introduced religious freedom, promoted education, made it illegal to kill serfs by feudal lords, abolished the terrorizing secret police, confiscated church property…
In Bulajic’s film, the main Satan in Hell reacts to the assassination of Emperor Peter, which upsets the balance of power between the church and hell, and plans a campaign through which, through Montenegro, an agent of hell who looks like Peter will return to power in Russia. The plan is for the naive and weak-minded people of Montenegro to recognize him as emperor and for him to return to power after the victories over the Turks. According to the version of Bulajic’s film, the church and Catherine II killed Peter. When asked why Montenegro, in the dialogue with hell, one of the devils answers “strategically, it is well positioned, the people are naive, they love Russia endlessly and are always at war with someone”.
An agent of hell named Scepan arrives in Montenegro and, as a herbalist, begins to heal people and perform miracles. The sick and aged bishop Sava reacts, because he recognizes the devil in him, but the people elect Scepan, who very quickly takes over power, and begins to reform Montenegro. To centralize power, to reconcile feuding brotherhoods and tribes, to eradicate blood feuds, to build roads, to separate church and state.
There are numerous reasons why the Serbian church is still doing everything to forget the story of Scepan. The role of the church in hiding his remains is also interesting. It is interesting that even today Scepan the Little is still used in public discourse in Montenegro as a synonym for fraudster and usurper. Spajic is compared to him when Spajic is told to be an alchemist and a financial schemer and an obscener.
Yesterday, while opening the Matesevo-Kolasin road section, Spajic mentioned the construction of the road towards Pec and the tunneling towards the Rugovska gorge. A friend from Bosnia critical of the 30-August government called me yesterday to ask if it was true that the road from Pljevlja to Metaljka would be built. In Sarajevo, it would be a connection with the world, and via Bijelo Polje, with quality roads, our north would again find itself at the loop, the crossroads among Podgorica, Sarajevo, Belgrade and Pristina.
It would be good to start with those things and to fulfill at least some of them, if it is not empty talk and obscenity. In addition, if concessions are not granted to the Serbian Church to the extent that concessions were given to it during the former government, i.e. if the fierce de-secularization and “re-Serbianization” of Montenegro is not allowed, then Spajic can be compared to Scepan, but in a positive sense.
That’s it for today and this week. We wish you a pleasant weekend. See you again on Monday.
Kind regards,
Ljubomir Filipovic, CdM analyst and columnist
(The opinions and views of the authors of the columns are not necessarily those of the CdM editorial staff)
