The lack of scientific books on Croatian nobility is in contrast with the fact that there is a voluminous material both on noble families in domestic and foreign archives. One of the families that marked Croatian and Middle European Early Modern Age was the Drašković family. The interest of Croatian historiography until now was primarily focused on research of later periods of the family's history, in a rather fragmented way. The dissertation researches phases of the family's rise (16th -17th century), when the family members had begun to take the most prominent positions of political and religious service under the Habsburg protectorate almost as a rule. The research is based on studying abundance of original material, as well as on critical approach to the relevant secondary literature. The dissertation is reconstructing various spheres of this family's life, and determines its significance and role in a wider European socio-cultural context. The research was based on a critical analysis of the original material of private and official provenance. Documents in question were created in everyday life, such as grants, wills, property disputes, reports, tax lists and correspondence, as well as chronicles of family history and other narrative sources. The largest part of the archive material on the family is stored in the Croatian State Archives and the Archives of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb, while material related to government services, royal donations and administrative affairs of family members along with numerous private correspondence is in the Hungarian National Archives in Budapest and the Austrian State Archives in Vienna. The study also included registers of universities (matriculae) active in the 16th and 17th centuries, which provided valuable data on the education of family members. Based on source analysis and relevant literature, two main research hypotheses emerged and were conceptualised. The first thesis is that as early as the 16th century, when the administrative structures were just beginning to spread, it was possible to obtain a magnate status in only one generation of family, through education and consequently occupation of high services. The second thesis is that the acquisition of magnate titles enables the creation of a clientelist network large enough to secure new estates throughout the Hungarian-Croatian Kingdom. The dissertation is structured according to the hypotheses. The introductory part presents the reasons and goals of the research, as well as an overview of the used archival materials and literature relevant to this research, followed by a review of past historiographic research and a substantiated theoretical background and conceptualization of the work, along with a selection of methodological procedures. A theoretical framework was presented according to which the horizontal and vertical mobility of the nobility also reflected the emergence of the state, i.e. the creation of institutions. Furthermore, the systematisation of different legal norms and legal practices that separated the nobility from other social strata was carried out, as well as of the legitimation patterns used in justification for its privileged status. The first thematic section deals with the family history after migration from south to north in the period from the mid-16th century to the mid-17th century. After reviewing the origins and history of the Drašković family during the migration, an analysis of noble diplomas and associated coats of arms was performed in order to establish the dynamics of obtaining the noble titles and the circumstances in which they were obtained, followed by an analysis of royal grants to family members, sales and pledge agreements. Consequently, the methods and dynamics of the acquisition of property and their location were thus determined. The focus was put on reconstructing the mechanisms of the rise of the first generation of family in the new homeland (Juraj I and his brothers), the reconstruction of the progression of the second generation (Ivan II, Petar and Juraj II) and the results of their ascension on the social ladder in the third generation. In the chapter on the first generation in the new homeland, the first generation after the migration from Lika and the hinterland of Skradin to the new homeland and their education and positioning was analysed. An emphasis was placed on the activity of Juraj I (1525.–1587.), who, thanks to his extraordinary abilities, was able to reach high state and clerical positions and so ensured his family not only survival but also status in the circle of powerful magnate families. The activity of his brothers Ivan I (1525.–1561.) and Gašpar I (1530.–1591.) and the first generation property situation were analysed. The same approach was applied in the chapter on the second generation of Drašković, Ivan II (1550.–1613.), Petar (1567.–1614.) and Juraj II (1570.–1591.) as well as in the chapter on the third generation. Each chapter is accompanied by an appropriate map with a chronological account of the acquisition of family possessions. In the second part of the thesis, in accordance with selected topics relevant also to the European context, attention was focused on constructing family identity, family structure, family relations, position of women and marriage strategies, as well as relationships with other noble families. An important component of the expression of noblemen identity was heraldry, which was distributed through family seals, coats of arms, tombstones and various objects of daily use. The nobility, in addition to playing a central role in the political and economic life of modern society, also invested considerable funds in its representation. It was especially successfully implemented through ordering of works of art and through the literary culture (noble libraries, authors and patrons of literary works), as well as through the so-called the culture of death by ensuring that the deceased's life is appropriately remembered by the building of monumental tombstones. Noble families promoted their status in society through castles and manor houses as places of residence and social events. In the case of Drašković, these were primarily the castles of Trakošćan and Klenovnik, which are even today still recognizable symbols of this family power in the past. The concluding considerations set out the framework of the hypotheses and research questions presented. The analysis of the results confirmed that the connection with the crown led to the social and economic rise of the whole family, and that the family could achieve a noticeable rise through a combination of different survival strategies. Furthermore, the Drašković family and the circle of their protégés demonstrated the clientelistic functioning of Croatian nobility and Croatian politics. In early-modern society, not only in the Croatian-Slavonian region, political relations were based on patronage and open clientelism, and personal loyalty was often more important than competence. As a framework for future research, it was suggested that attention should be paid to female members of the family, who were – according to the collected but until recently almost completely unknown data – highly educated, as well as roles they had in all segments of the family life.