TILLY, J O H A N N TSERKLIES, COUNT VON, one of the most notable generals of the Thirty Years' War; born in the castle of Tilly, Brabant, Belgium, in February, 1559. He was at first edu cated under Jesuit supervision for the priesthood, but a strong bias toward a military career soon showed itself, and he abandoned the Church for the army.
He served under Alva during the revolt in the Netherlands, and afterward with distinction in Hungary. Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria, appointed him com mander of his forces, and in 1620, two years after the beginning of the Thirty Years' War, he utterly routed the Bo hemians. During the next period of the contest he defeated in turn the two Protestant leaders. In 1622 he drove from the Palatinate Christian, Duke of Brunswick, and in August next year defeated him in a three days' engage ment at Stadtlohn in Miinsterchen. In 1625 he led the army of the Catholic League against Christian IV., of Den mark, who commanded the army of Lower Saxony, and defeated him in the battle of Lutter. Along with Wallenstein
he forced the Danish king to agree to the disgraceful peace of Liibeck (1629). Next year Wallenstein was forced to re sign the command of the imperial forces, and Tilly succeeded him. In May, 1631, Tilly sacked with ferocious cruelty the town of Magdeburg. As he himself com placently wrote, since the destruction of Troy and Jerusalem nothing had equalled it. Gustavus Adolphus was too late to save, but not to avenge Magdeburg. In September, 1631, he defeated Tilly at Breitenfeld, and again at Rain on the Lech. In both battles Tilly was wounded. He died in Ingolstadt, April 30, 1632, a few days after his second defeat. Tilly was an able general, but a man of narrow intellect. Not personally ambitious, nor caring for money, he was a fanatical Roman Catholic, ready to sacrifice every thing for his Church.