Der Samtrock des Feldherrn Tilly (1559-1632)

Abstract

Johann Tserclaes Count of Tilly was the most successful military leader during the Thirty Years’ War. He became major general in the army of Duke Maximilian I of Bavaria in 1610, then, in 1630 equally field marshal under Emperor Ferdinand II. One year later Tilly was made responsible for the devastating sack of Magdeburg. Finally, in 1632 he was wounded in the battle at Rain am Lech and died in Ingolstadt two weeks afterwards. Tilly’s cassock made of dark violet velvet and decorated with passementerie braid is one of the most prominent objects in the famous textile and dress collection of the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum in Munich. The thorough examination of the garment consisted in analysing its cut as well as all the materials and tailoring techniques used. Comparing the extant dress item with pictorial and archival sources have made it possible to classify it as a typically Western cassock of typically Western cut made in the then popular Hungarian style and to date its fabrication more precisely.