Shepherds' Crusade (1320)

The Shepherds' Crusade of 1320 was a popular movement in northern France aimed to help the Reconquista of Iberia.

The causes are complex; however, at that time a wake of famines had set in related to climatic changes (the "little ice age") and the economic situation for the rural poor had deteriorated. Furthermore, there were prophecies and talks about a new crusade. Also, indebtedness to Jewish moneylenders had been apparently eliminated with their eviction by King Philip the Fair in 1306; however, his son Louis X brought them back and became a partner in the recovery of their debts.

The crusade started in May 1320 in Normandy, when a teenage shepherd claimed to have been visited by the Holy Spirit, which instructed him to fight the Moors in Iberia. Similar to the 1251 crusade, this movement included mostly young men, women, and children. They marched to Paris to ask Philip V to lead them, but he refused to meet with them at all. While in Paris they liberated prisoners in the Grand Châtelet.

Instead they marched south to Aquitaine, attacking castles, royal officials, priests, and lepers along the way. Their usual targets, however, were Jews, whom they attacked at Saintes, Verdun-sur-Garonne, Cahors, Albi, and Toulouse, which they reached on June 12. Pope John XXII, in Avignon, gave orders to stop them. When they eventually crossed into Spain, their attacks on the Jews were well-known, and James II of Aragon vowed to protect his citizens. At first they were prohibited from entering the kingdom at all, but when they did enter in July, James warned all his nobles to make sure the Jews were kept safe.

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