Random House, 1989); Smith, Elbert B., The Presidencies
of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore (Lawrence: Univer-
sity Press of Kansas, 1988).
Theodoric the Great (ca. 454–526) king of
the Ostrogoths
With the exception of attila the hun, Theodoric
was one of the most successful tribal military leaders
in European history. He was born about 454, the il-
legitimate son of Theodomir (also spelled Theudemir),
the leader of the Ostrogothic family of Amali and one
of three brothers who controlled the eastern Goths in
what is now Austria. When he was eight, Theodoric was
taken to the court of Leo, the Holy Roman Emperor
of the East, in the city of Constantinople, where he re-
ceived a first-class education. (Some sources note that
Theodoric was taken as a “hostage” to Constantinople.)
Ten years later, he returned to his people and imme-
diately led an invasion eastward into Sarmatia (today’s
Romania) and took control of the city of Singidunum
(now modern Belgrade). Theodoric then marched south
into Moesia and Macedonia, where the Goths settled
for a short period. His father Theodomir died in 474,
and for the next 14 years Theodoric fought a series of
wars against the forces of the Eastern Roman Emperor
Zeno as well as those of another Gothic tribal chief, also
named Theodoric, the son of Triarius. In 488, with the
agreement of Emperor Zeno, Theodoric began a war
against Odoacer, also known as Odavacar, the German
who was then the ruler of what is now Italy. Theodoric
crossed the Sontius (now the Isonzo) River in north-
ern Italy, and the two sides clashed there on 28 August
489, with Theodoric winning an important victory.
He followed Odoacer’s fleeing army and defeated them
again at Verona on 30 September 489. Odoacer fled to
Ravenna, but Theodoric’s forces blockaded the city for
more than three years.
Following the surrender of Odoacer and his army,
Theodoric personally killed Odoacer on 15 March 493.
He then took control of all Italy. His reign, 493–526,
was a period of peace and prosperity for the Italian peo-
ple as he lowered taxes and encouraged building pro-
grams. When two competing bishops, Anastasius and
Symmachus, claimed the papacy, Theodoric was asked
to adjudicate; he selected Anastasius. Two years later,
when Anastasius died, Theodoric successfully pushed
for the selection of Symmachus.
Because Theodoric followed Arian religious beliefs,
there was a constant campaign against him among the
remnants of the old senatorial faction in Rome. They
persistently called on the Eastern Roman Emperor in
Constantinople to depose Theodoric, even though his
rule was supported by the majority of Italy. He executed
the philosopher Boethius and Boethius’s father-in-law,
the leader of the party urging rebellion against him, and
some historians maintain that it was remorse for this
that brought on Theodoric’s final illness and his death
on 30 August 526. He was buried in a grand mauso-
leum in Ravenna and was succeeded by his grandson,
Athalaric. He had brought peace and prosperity to Italy
for 30 years at a time when the rest of Europe was riven
by anarchy and tribal warfare.References: Hodgkin, Thomas, Theodoric the Goth: The
Barbarian Champion of Civilization (New York: G. P.
Putnam’s Sons, 1900); Hodgkin, Thomas, Italy and Her
Invaders, 6 vols. (Oxford, U.K.: The Clarendon Press,
1880–99), III:30–50; Burns, Thomas S., A History of
the Ostro-Goths (Bloomington: Indiana University Press,
1984); Moorhead, John, Theoderic in Italy (Oxford, U.K.:
Clarendon Press, 1992).Tilly, Johann Tserclaes, Count von (Johann
T’serclaes, Jean Tilly, Jean Tserclaes) (1559–
1632) Belgian military commander
Johann Tilly was born as Johann (or Jean) Tserclaes
(some sources list the name as T’serclaes) in the chateau
of Tilly, Brabant, in what is now Belgium sometime in- He originally intended to enter the priesthood and
studied at a Jesuit institution. However, in 1574, when
he was only 15, he left the Jesuits to volunteer for service
as a foot soldier in a Spanish regiment. During a period
when he served in the army of Alessandro Farnese, duke
of Parma, in several clashes, he rose through the ranks to
become the commander of a company. He distinguished
himself at the Spanish army’s siege of Antwerp in 1585
and was given the governorships of the provinces of Dun
and Villefranche, which he held from 1590 to 1594. In
the latter year, Tilly left to enter the army of Rudolf II,
the Holy Roman Emperor, in his war against the Turks.
This conflict lasted for many years, during which Tilly
raised an army of Walloon (ethnic Belgians) infantry,
which he commanded in the empire’s assault on the
city of Budapest, now the capital of modern Hungary.
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