Hrvatski Job šesnaestoga vijeka – život i djela Ivana Karlovića

Petar Grgec's book The Croatian Job of the Sixteenth Century – the Life and Works of Ivan Karlović is a work written in a popular-scientific style, intended for a wider audience, with an emphasis on a Catholic-national and patriotic approach.

Ivan Karlović (c. 1485–1531), Prince of Krbava from the Kurjaković family, was a prominent Croatian nobleman and Van of Croatia for two terms (1521–1524 and 1527–1531). Grgec calls him the Croatian Job after the inscription on his grave in Remete near Zagreb, because, like the biblical Job, he endured great suffering: he lost most of his estates, family and wealth in constant wars against the Ottomans, and yet remained faithful to the defense of Christianity and Croatia.

The book describes Karlović's family (Kurjaković), his participation in battles (e.g. at Gračac in 1500, Dubica in 1513, Belaja and others), diplomatic efforts, relations with the Habsburgs, the Venetians and the Pope, and the difficult living conditions in the Croatian borderland in the 16th century. Grgec uses historical sources (Sanudo, Klaić and others), folk songs in which Karlović is praised, and presents the hero as a symbol of Croatian suffering and heroism in the defense of Europe from the Turkish invasion. He particularly emphasizes his courage, loyalty and the tragedy of a great nobleman who was left without most of his estate.

The work reflects Grgec's Catholic and Croatian national worldview and belongs to a series of his popular-historical works. The book is not an extensive scientific study, but an inspiring biography written in living language.