Tilly, Johann Tserclaes, count von

Tilly, Johann Tserclaes, count von

(born February 1559, Tilly, Brabant, Spanish Netherlands—died April 30, 1632, Ingolstadt, Bavaria) Bavarian general in the Thirty Years' War. He gained military experience in the Spanish Army of Flanders fighting under Alessandro Farnese (1585) against the Dutch and in 1594 joined the emperor Rudolf II's army against the Turks. Appointed by Maximilian I of Bavaria to reorganize the Bavarian army (1610), Tilly created an efficient force that became the spearhead of the Catholic League in the Thirty Years' War. He led the League's forces to victories in the Battle of White Mountain (1620) and at Lutter (1626). In 1630 he added the imperial forces to his command. In 1631 he besieged the Protestant city of Magdeburg, but its destruction proved disastrous for him. Failing to stop the Swedish advance into Germany, he was defeated at Breitenfeld (1631) and was fatally wounded in a later battle.