Shepherds' Crusade (1251)
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The Shepherds' Crusade of 1251 was a
popular crusade The popular crusades were several movements "animated by crusading enthusiasm" but unsanctioned by the Church. They contrast with the "official crusades" authorised by the Papacy. While the latter consisted of professional armies led by apostolic ...
in northern
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
aimed at rescuing
King Louis IX Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the d ...
during the Seventh Crusade. In 1249, Saint Louis IX of France went away on
crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were i ...
, leaving his mother,
Blanche of Castile Blanche of Castile ( es, Blanca de Castilla; 4 March 1188 – 27 November 1252) was Queen of France by marriage to Louis VIII. She acted as regent twice during the reign of her son, Louis IX: during his minority from 1226 until 1234, and during ...
, as regent during his absence. Louis was defeated and captured in
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
. When news of this reached France the next year, both nobles and peasants were deeply distressed; the king was well-loved and it was inconceivable to them that such a pious man could be defeated by heathens. Louis sent his brothers to France to get relief, where despite the efforts of Blanche of Castile, it was seen that neither the nobility nor the clergy were helping the king. A man, apparently an old Hungarian monk living in northern France, claimed he saw a vision of the
Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...
in which she told him to raise a peasant army to rescue King Louis. From about Easter 1251, a group of perhaps as many as 60,000 followed him, causing disruption, especially conflict with the clergy in several cities, and later began to attack the Jewish population. They never went beyond northern France as a large group, and were eventually dispersed by order of Blanche.


Formation

One of the outpourings of support took the form of a peasant movement in northern France, led by a man known as "the Master of Hungary" (). He was apparently a very old Hungarian monk living in France, called Jacob. The Master claimed to have been visited by the
Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...
, who instructed him to lead the
shepherd A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. ''Shepherd'' derives from Old English ''sceaphierde (''sceap'' 'sheep' + ''hierde'' 'herder'). ''Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations, i ...
s (, hence the common name ''Crusade of the '') of France to the
Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...
to rescue Louis. His followers, said to number 60,000, were mostly young peasants, men, women, and children, from
Brabant Brabant is a traditional geographical region (or regions) in the Low Countries of Europe. It may refer to: Place names in Europe * London-Brabant Massif, a geological structure stretching from England to northern Germany Belgium * Province of Bra ...
, Hainaut,
Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...
, and
Picardy Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France. It is located in the northern part of France. Hi ...
. They followed him to
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
in May, where the Master met with
Blanche of Castile Blanche of Castile ( es, Blanca de Castilla; 4 March 1188 – 27 November 1252) was Queen of France by marriage to Louis VIII. She acted as regent twice during the reign of her son, Louis IX: during his minority from 1226 until 1234, and during ...
. Chronicler
Matthew Paris Matthew Paris, also known as Matthew of Paris ( la, Matthæus Parisiensis, lit=Matthew the Parisian; c. 1200 – 1259), was an English Benedictine monk, chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts and cartographer, based at St Albans Abbey ...
thought he was an impostor, and that he was actually one of the leaders of the Children's Crusade from earlier in the century.
Matthew Paris Matthew Paris, also known as Matthew of Paris ( la, Matthæus Parisiensis, lit=Matthew the Parisian; c. 1200 – 1259), was an English Benedictine monk, chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts and cartographer, based at St Albans Abbey ...
, ''
Chronica Majora The ''Chronica Majora'' is the seminal work of Matthew Paris, a member of the English Benedictine community of St Albans and long-celebrated historian. The work begins with Creation and contains annals down to the year of Paris' death of 1259. ...
''
Their movement in the city was restricted; they were not allowed to cross to the
Left Bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography, as follows. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrai ...
, where the
University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...
was located, as Blanche perhaps feared another disturbance on the scale of the
University of Paris strike of 1229 The University of Paris strike of 1229 was caused by the deaths of a number of students in punishing a student riot. The students protested with a "dispersion", or student strike, which lasted more than two years and led to a number of reforms of t ...
.


Dispersal

The crowd of shepherds split up after leaving the city. Some of them went to
Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...
, where they expelled the archbishop and threw some priests into the
Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...
river. In
Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...
they attacked
monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
. The others under the Master arrived in
Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and
Franciscans , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...
and Dominicans. They fought with the university students in the city as well, as Blanche might have feared would happen in Paris. Moving on to
Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...
and then
Bourges Bourges () is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre. It is the capital of the department of Cher, and also was the capital city of the former province of Berry. History The name of the commune derives either from the Bituriges, t ...
, they also began to attack
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
. Blanche responded by ordering the crowds to be rounded up and
excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
. This was done rather easily as they were simply wandering, directionless, around northern France, but the group led by the Master resisted outside Bourges, and the Master himself was killed in the ensuing skirmish. The crusade seems to have been more of a revolt against the French church and nobility, who were thought to have abandoned Louis; the shepherds, of course, had no idea of what happened to Louis, nor the logistics involved in undertaking a crusade to rescue him. After being dispersed, some of the participants traveled to
Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 January ...
and
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, where they were forbidden to preach. Others took a true crusade vow and may have actually gone on crusade.


References


Sources

*
Margaret Wade Labarge Margaret Wade Labarge (1916–2009) was a Canadian historian specializing in the role of women in the Middle Ages. She was adjunct professor of history at Carleton University. Labarge attended Harvard and Oxford universities, and taught at the ...
, ''Saint Louis: The Life of Louis IX of France''. London, 1968. *Ernest Lavisse, ''Histoire de France, Tome Troisième, II''. Paris, 1901. *Régine Pernoud, ''La Reine Blanche''. Paris, 1972. *Peter Jackson, ''The Seventh Crusade, 1244–1254. Sources and Documents''. Aldershot, 2007. *Gary Dickson, ''Religious enthusiasm in the medieval West''. Aldershot, 2000. *Malcolm Barber, "The crusades of the shepherds in 1251", ''Proceedings of the Tenth Annual Meeting of the western society for French history, 1982''. Lawrence, 1984.


Further reading

* {{Cite NIE, wstitle=Pastorels, year=1905 , short=x 1250s in France History of Catholicism in France 1251 in Europe 13th-century crusades 1250s conflicts