Slavic invasions certainly decreased the enormous territory of Illyria, which according to Appian extended from Istri (modern Danube) to as far as Chaonia and Thesprotia (precisely, Ambracia bay). A large portion of the northern Illyrian population shifted farther south in the rocky mountains of northern Albania, where their culture and ethnic identity survive today, an Illyrian identity which is represented by the modern Albanians.However, a considerable number of the Illyrian population did not move, but stayed in their territories for centuries. This population came to withstand Slavization up to the last few centuries. This includes the population of Herzegovina and Montenegro, who even are linguistically Slavic, although in many anthropological and ethnological aspects they still retain the old substance of their ties with Albanians.Medieval chronicles speak of a Albanian nation stretching from highlands of Herzegovina and up to Aetolia in south. A large number of foreign geographers have specified that the border of Albania touched present day Herzegovina. Thus, the prominent Danish geographer Condrad Malte Brun (1755-1826) writes that:
“No geographer has determined the extent of Arnaoutlik, a country that borders on Rascia, Macedonia and Bosnia”.
Robert Elsie & Janice Mathie-Heck in their book ‘Songs of the frontier warriors‘ underline the epic character of these legendary songs of Northern Albania, an epic which also characterizes the populations (today Slavicized) of Montenegro and Herzegovina.
Not only this, but also other aspects of collective behavior of Montenegrins are similar to those of Albanians.The marked distinction between the Serbs and the Montenegrins was pointed out by Prof. Savo Birkovic in a recent work: ‘0 postanku i rasvoju Crnogorske nacje, Graficki Zavod, Titograd, 1980.
M.E. Durham (1863-1944), who traveled widely in Albania and Montenegro and devoted much time to the study of Montenegrin and Albanian tribes, came to the conclusion that the Montenegrin is not so much a Slav as a Slavicized descendant of the older inhabitants, i.e., of Vlachs, and Albanians. That the Montenegrin tribes were originally Albanian tribes was already indicated by K. Jirecek, “Albanien in der Vergangenheit,” Illyrisch-Albanische Forschungen.Perhaps of particular importance is the anthropological aspect of similarity between Albanians and Montenegrins (Slavicized Albanians). Carleton Coon (1904-1981) president of the ‘American Association of Physical Anthropologists’ underlines the fact that:
‘The Montenegrins, who are the tallest people in Europe … are linguistically Serbs, but there can be no question that they are to a large extent Slavicized Albanians; the Cultural Continuity between the two Peoples is striking, the only real differences being those of language and religion ‘.
In 1900, Montenegro, which was about the size of Yorkshire, consisted of some thirty plemena or tribes. A small core, mainly Cetinaajes, Nyegushi, Rijeka and Kchevo formed old Montenegro. To this was added the Brda group, which joined Montenegro voluntarily in the eighteenth century, in order to fight against the Turks. These are mainly of Albanian blood and were all Roman Catholics at the time of their annexation, but have since been converted to the Orthodox Church and Slavized. It is worth to mention,that most of montenegrin tribes stem from catholic albanian tribes,who were forcibly slavicized(Vasojevići,Piperi,Kuči,Bjelopavlići etc).According to albanian legend, a man named Keq Preka and his five sons moved southward from the Herzegovinan highlands to escape the mass migration of Slavs. They and many of the other Albanian-speaking peoples in the Herzegovina area kept moving until they found an area where they found a population that spoke the same language as theirs (most likely a form of gheg Albanian).Each of Keq Preka's sons is the father and namesake of his own tribe:Lazar Keqi (Hoti), Ban Keqi (Triesh), Kras Keqi (Krasniqi), Piper Keqi (Piperi clan), and Vaso Keqi (the Vasojevići clan).
Vasojevići-Vasoja
Piperi-Piperi
Kuči-Kuçi
Bjelopavlići-Palabardhët
Ozrinići-Ozrini
Bratonožići-Bratonet
etc.
Edmund Spencer says:
‘In personal appearance the mountaineers of Tchernegora(Montenegro) rather resemble their neighbors in Albania, than their brethren in Servia; there is the same nervous, lofty form, animated expression, and a certain degree of saucy audacity in their manners and bearing; they have also imbibed from their neighbors many of their customs and manners, particularly the belief in retributive justice, and that blood can only be expiated by blood, consequently sanguinary conflicts frequently break out between different tribes‘.
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