The Bratonožići (Serbian Cyrillic: Братоножићи, pronounced[bräto̞no̞ʒit͡ɕi]) is a historical tribe (pleme) of Albanian origin in the Brda region of Montenegro. It appeared during the Ottoman period and was a captaincy of the Principality of Montenegro in the 19th century. Today, it forms part of northeastern Podgorica Municipality. In Montenegro, the majority of people who trace their origin in Bratonožići identify as Christian Orthodox Montenegrins and Christian Orthodox Serbs. Brotherhoods (bratstvo) from the historical tribe that settled in Bijelo Polje and became Muslims in the Ottoman period identify as Bosniaks. In the 18th century, many families from the region settled in western Serbia. In Kosovo, a part of the Serbs of western Kosovo come from Bratonožići.
Geography
The Bratonožići tribal region is a rugged, hilly area at an altitude which ranges from 400 to 450m. It is situated between the Morača river, Mala Rijeka and Crna Planina; it borders the tribes of Vasojevići to the north, Rovčani to the northwest, Kuči to the east and south, and Piperi to the west. The region ends after Mala Rijeka pours into the Morača, near the settlement of Mrke, about 13 km to the northeast of Podgorica. With the exception of Mrke, most of the other localities (Klopot, Pelev Brijeg, Duga) of Bratonožići are semi-deserted or completely abandoned, their inhabitants having moved to Podgorica. In 2011, Mrke had 207 residents, 118 of whom identified themselves as Montenegrins, 60 as Serbs, while 25 chose not to declare their ethnicity.[1]
Language
The Serbo-Croatian dialect spoken in Bratonožići forms a speech group with Kuči and Piperi. South Slavic in these three communities is marked by close contact with the northern Albanian dialects of Malësia. The dialects of Bratonožići and Kuči which differ to a certain degree from that of Piperi, largely because of the historic bilingualism that was present in the area as a result of direct contact with Albanian.[2]
The Bratonožići (Albanian: Bratonishi[3]) were of Albanian origin and gradually became Slavic-speakers. A Franciscan report of the 17th century illustrates the final stages of their acculturation. Its author writes that the Bratonožići, Piperi, Bjelopavlići and Kuči:" nulla di meno essegno quasi tutti del rito serviano, e di lingua Illrica ponno piu presto dirsi Schiavoni, ch' Albanesi " (since almost all of them use the Serbian rite and the Illyric (Slavic) language, soon they should be called Slavs, rather than Albanians)[4]
History
The first indirect reference to the Bratonožići comes from the 1416-17 Venetian cadaster of Shkodër. In it, a certain Marco Bratonese or Bratonesso was registered as living in Koplik where he had probably moved from one of the Zeta katuns (villages).[5]
The first direct reference to the settlements that comprise Bratonožići today is found in the supplementary defter of the sanjak of Scutari in 1497. They hadn't formed as a single community at that time.[6]
Bratonožići is a tribe (pleme) of several patrilineal ancestries which formed it over time since the late 15th century. The name of the tribe comes from a Brato, father of Nika and ancestor of a part of the brotherhoods of Bratonožići. He lived 14 generations before the time of the recording of the story around 1900.[citation needed]
Two other communities that lived in the same area were the Albanian Catholic Bukumiri[7] and Bushati tribes and the Lutovci, who may have come from the Pirot region in the eastern Balkans or from Pilot in northern Albania. Their origin is debated because no collective memory of their history has been retained except for a toponym which may be interpreted to refer to Pirot in eastern Serbia or Pilot in northern Albania. Their first historical ancestor in Bratonožići is a captain Gojko and their historical village was Lutovo. Archival records show that the Lutovci lived in 27 households of Luskozupa in 1497 in the nahiye of Piperi, which included Bratonožići and the Piperi tribe.[8] Over the years, a few families from neighbouring tribes like Kuči, Bjelopavlići and Piperi also settled Bratonožići and became part of the community. Bratonožići was an area of language contact between Slavic and Albanian as well as religious contact between Slavic Orthodoxy and Catholicism. Sima Milutinović Sarajlija, a Serbian Romantic nationalist, wrote in 1835 that the Bratonožići intermarried freely with their Catholic Albanian neighbours and "were attracted to Catholicism by the Albanian priests". Sarajlija reports that probably in the first half of the 17th century Rufim Njeguš managed to convert the community back to Orthodoxy by convincing them to swear an oath that marriages with Catholic Albanians would only be with Catholic Albanian women, but no women from Bratonožići would be given for marriage to Catholic Albanian men.[9] This measure would prevent any further conversions to Catholicism. The events of the reconversion of Bratonožići are regarded as an important step for the reinforcement of what was termed as Serbdom (Srbstvo) and Orthodoxy in Montenegro by 19th century Serbian historiography.[9]
The tribe was often in conflict with the Kuči over grazing lands.[when?][10] Bratonožići often attacked Rovca, who were always defended by the Moračani.[11] They also often fought with the Vasojevići.[11]
Venetian public servant Mariano Bolizza's 1614 report that the villages of Kuči, Bratonožići and part of Plav were under the soldiers of Medun, the spahee, but the commander was not named; and the highlanders would pay the Ottoman officials a portion of their income.[12] The report registered the Bratanosich as an Orthodox village of Serbian or Greek rite with 87 houses, and 260 men in arms commanded by Stanoje Radonjin.[13] In 1658, the seven tribes of Kuči, Vasojevići, Bratonožići, Piperi, Klimenti, Hoti and Gruda allied themselves with the Republic of Venice, establishing the so-called "Seven-fold barjak" or "alaj-barjak", against the Ottomans.[14] According to Historians Simo Milutinović and Dimitrije Milaković, the Catholic Kuči, Bratonožići and Drekalovići tribe has converted to Orthodoxy by Rufim Boljević.[15] In 1689, an uprising broke out in Piperi, Rovca, Bjelopavlići, Bratonožići, Kuči and Vasojevići, while at the same time an uprising broke out in Prizren, Peć, Priština and Skopje, and then in Kratovo and Kriva Palanka in October (Karposh's Rebellion).[16]
^Čirgić, Adnan (2020). Dialectology of the Montenegrin Language. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 70. ISBN9781793636379. The dialect of Kuci (and the dialect of Bratonožići through it, about which there are very scarce scientific data) differs to a certain extent from the dialect of Piperi because of direct contact with Albanian language territory, first and foremost because of Montenegrin-Albanian bilingualism in that area which has existed almost to date.
^Xhufi, Pëllumb (2013). "Përkime shqiptaro-malazeze në mesjetë". In Ramaj, Albert (ed.). Poeta nascitur, historicus fit - Ad honorem Zef Mirdita (in Albanian). St. Gallen: Albanisches Institut. p. 132. Në mënyrë domethënëse, një tekst françeskan i shek. XVII, pasi pohon se fi set e Piperve, Bratonishëve, Bjelopavliqëve e Kuçëve ishin shqiptare, shton se: "megjithatë, duke qenë se thuajse që të gjithë ata ndjekin ritin serbian (ortodoks) dhe përdorin gjuhën ilirike (sllave), shumë shpejt do mund të quhen më shumë Sllavë, se sa Shqiptarë"
За ту ријеч Буро убије пушком Батрића. Кучи и Братоножићи побију се, и приће- рају Кучи Братоножиће уз Плочице до села брато- ношкије Поткрша и Павличића, посијеку им 16 гла- ва, а мртвије и рањеније с обје стране не зна ...
^ abПавел Аполлонович Ровинский (1998). Етнографија Црне Горе. Цид. Братоножићи су често нападали Ровца, али су Ровчане у свако] невољи штитили Морачани. Што се тиче Ваа^евића, са којима су се Братоножићи такоЬе често били, ово се племе тако брзо намножило и ојачало да им ни Кучи ...
^Mitološki zbornik. Centar za mitološki studije Srbije. 2004. pp. 24, 41–45.
^Ivan Jovović, 2013, Dvooltarske crkve na crnogorskom primorju, {Sličnu zaslugu, samo u obrnutom smjeru, istoriografi poput Sime Milutinovića i Dimitrije Milakovića navode u korist crnogorskog mitropolita Rufima Boljevića, koji je Kuče, Bratonožiće i Drekaloviće iz katoličanstva preveo u pravoslavlje, "Similar merit, only in the opposite direction, historiographers like Sime Milutinovic and Dimitrije Milakovic stated in favor of Montenegrin Metropolitan Rufim Boljevic, who is Kuce, Bratonozice and Drekalovice from Catholicism converted to Orthodoxy"} https://www.maticacrnogorska.me/files/53/06%20ivan%20jovovic.pdf #page= 69
^ abDva Petrovića Njegoša: Vladika Danilo Petrović. Štamparija Petra Ćurčića. 1896. (23) окт. ударе Арнаути на Црногорце између Ржанице и Велике у Васојевићима. Крвав бој потраја до поноћи, најпосле претерају Црногорци Арнауте преко границе. Ово слабо освести Арнауте и њих неколико хиљада. понове 22. нов. (4. дек) нападање на црногорску стражу од 300 људи код Велике. Ту сад ступе у акцију 4—5 црногорских батаљуна. Братoножићи и Морачини с јатаганима улете у Арнауте и стану их. сећи, на пто Арнаути окрену леђа. Црногорци их. вијаше и секоше два часа. Арнаута погибе до 1000. Прногорци имаше 85 мртвих и 100 рањених, добише 100 коња и доста оружја. Међу Арнаутима било је пуно преобучених низама. Ни ово не опамети ни Арнауте, ни патроне им у Цариграду. Трећи дан божића опет ударе око 10.000 Арнаута код Велике на 3000 Црногораца, које су предводиле војводе Марко Миљанов Тодор Миљанов и поп Ђоко. Борба је трајала од 9 часова пре подне до мрака. Арнаути имаше мртвих и рањених 1400, Црногорци 36 мртвих и 70 рањених И овде је константовано, да је међу Арнаутима било много преобучених низама. Ту су се на црногорској страни борили Братoножићи, Васојевићи и Морачани. Нису се Арнаути ни на друге стране поштеније владали. 30. јун. (12. јул.) 1880 пре зоре нападну на црногорску шредњу стражу на Голубовцу на ...