Tilly served under Farnese in the Netherlands and then in the army of Emperor Rudolf II against the Ottoman Turks (1594). In 1610 Duke Maximilian of Bavaria appointed him to create an army, which became the spearhead of the Catholic League during the Thirty Years War. He was victorious at the Battle of the White Mountain (1620) and went on to dominate north‐western Germany. He crushed the Danes at Lutter (1626) and, on Wallenstein’s dismissal, took command of imperial as well as League troops. His brutal destruction of the Protestant city of Magdeburg (1631) blackened his reputation. He was routed by Gustavus II (Adolphus) at Breitenfeld (1631). Wounded at the battle of Rain (1632), he died two weeks later.