Ivan Karlović

Who was Ivan Karlović?

Ivan Karlović was the Ban of Croatia from 1521 to 1524 and again from 1527 to 1531. Karlović's seat was in Medvedgrad.

He is often known as Ivan Karlović of Krbava because his family originated from there and owned large property in that region. He was the son of Karlo Kurjaković, and Dorothea née Frankopan. Because of Ottoman expansion, he lost much of his personal holdings. He fought the Ottomans all the time in many battles, but could not stop them entirely from conquering his country.

His name is mentioned in the writings of the bishop of Modrus Šimun Kožičić Benja from a speech delivered at the Fifth Council of the Lateran in 1513. He is also known to have attended a Croatian diet in Cetin in late 1526 along with several other important Croat leaders of the time. It was at this time that Croatia changed allegiance from Hungary to the Habsburgs.

His sister Jelena was the mother of future ban Nikola Šubić Zrinski.

Ivan Karlović was born in 1478 or 1479 and died in 1531 in Medvedgrad. He was buried in the Church of the Mother of God of Remete in Zagreb.