Magdeburg was besieged and then destroyed by Catholic armies under Tilly and others in 1630/1631. Historians sometimes contend that the Thirty Years' War was the most destructive event in Europe prior to the twentieth century: the massacre in Magdeburg that followed the surrender of the city may have involved the death of perhaps 20,000 inhabitants. Military destruction was followed, as so often, by plague. Evenius fled with his family to Tallinn where he took over the headship of the newly founded Gymnasium (school).