Scepan Mali Kept Montenegro's Loyalty

In 1767, a mysterious man named Scepan Mali gained support in Montenegro after rumors identified him as deposed Russian emperor Peter III, who had actually died in 1762. Scepan never confirmed the claim, but he used it to become Montenegro's absolute ruler in 1768, calm its feuding clans, and introduce social, administrative, and religious reforms. A Russian delegation exposed him as a fraud and briefly imprisoned him in 1769, only to release and restore him after deciding he was the country's most competent potential ruler. The Montenegrins welcomed him back despite the deception, and he completed a five-year reign before a servant bribed by the Ottomans murdered him in 1773.

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