»FIRST MY BROTHER, THEN A BLOOD-TAKER, THEN MY BROTHER FOREVER« THE EFFICIENCY OF THE TRADITIONAL PEACE-MAKING CUSTOM IN EARLY MODERN AGE MONTENEGRO AND THE ROLE OF THE VENETIAN AUTHORITIES IN THE PEACE-MAKING PROCESS.

The paper discusses the tradition of vendetta and the peace-making process that were a part of a customary legal tradition of rural kinship communities in Montenegro and Albania. The custom was preserved throughout the centuries as both Venetian and Ottoman administration acknowledged the existing legal customs. However, in some cases the customary peace-making custom proved itself to be more efficient than the diplomatic intervention in the dispute resolution. The Venetian authorities on several occasions ordered the rural kinship communities in the coastal area to make customary peace with their neighbours in hope of preventing vendetta and feuds from developing immense proportions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]