Having lived in turbulent and dangerous times of Ottoman invasion, Bartol's family moved from southern Croatia to Karlovac region in the west part of the country.

In 155.3 he was appointed secretary of the Holy Roman Emperor and Croato-Hungarian king Ferdinand I of Habsburg and in 1555. he took over the prepositure of Pozsony (present day Bratislava, Slovakia).

During his reign, political and social situation in Croatia was extremely complicated, marked by Ottoman invasion, noblemen conflicts, Protestantism breakthrough and peasant revolts.

Drašković believed in maintaining the harsh feudal system and was against the end of serfdom, a practice similar to slavery,[3] the Bishop himself held great estates and owned thousands of serfs,[4] to prevent the Krajina example where Orthodox peasants had been freed by the Habsburgs in exchange by lifelong military service defending the borders,[5] Drašković took a leading role in crushing the peasant revolt of 1573 led by Ambroz "Matija" Gubec.

Emperor and king Rudolf II of Habsburg promoted him and made him the royal governor of Hungary (1584), which is a title equal to Hungarian palatine.