User:HARA0201/Shepherds' Crusade (1320)

Lead
The Shepherds' Crusade of 1320 was a popular crusading movement in northern France. Also well known as "the Pastoureaux of 1320". Initially aiming to help the Reconquista of Iberia, it failed to gain support from the church or nobility and instead murdered hundreds of Jews in France and Aragon.

In the beginning, it was aimed against Islam and for ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Spain for the sake of purification of the society. However, later the Jews became the target of the movement once they moved out of Normandy towards the south of France. This movement was a result of hatred towards Jews but also an action against the economic policies of the royals and the monarchy.

Causes
Along with this, the hypocritical leadership and the situation created by the people belonging to the upper class and the nobles led to the disastrous event of 1320. The Jews were representatives of the monarchy as well as tax collectors which became one of the leading factors for the crusade. The failure of the society to take action against the violent acts that were aimed to change the current circumstances despite legitimizing the Holy war contributed to the onset of the movement. Also, the difference in the opinion of the crusaders and the king, Aymery de Cros with his people was one of the reasons which infuriated the crusade to target Jews in the first place.

Beginnings
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, children, married couples, and clerics. 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.

Success and downfall
The Shepherd's crusade was successful for a limited period under the rule of Philip V. The temporary success was a result of the support from town governments, Consuls, the upper class, and the public. The wealthy class although they were fearful of the movement, still provided funds to crusaders for the movement and consuls allowed them to possess the arms which were prohibited in the town. The consuls defended the crusaders when they attacked Jews, seized their money, goods and robbed churches. It was easy to get public empathy in the time of 1320, thus crusaders got the populace which along with other supporters helped them to succeed in targeting the Jews for a brief period in which they killed a large number of Jews.

However, soon the crusade came to an end and was destroyed. The movement dispersed and the Pastoureaux were captured. One major contributor to the downfall of the Pastoureaux was Alfonso, son of James II of Aragon. Pastoureaux lost their power at the hands of Alfonso. To stop the crusaders a professional military skill was directed against them which targeted the crusaders in small groups and they were reduced to nothing in a blink of an eye.

The Jews
After the defeat of the crusade, the Jews were helped by the Aragonese kings to stabilize and to return to their previous positions that they occupied before the movement. Aymery de Cros, Senechal of Carcassone advocated for the protection of Jews based on Jews being "Serfs of the king". He warned the people of Carcassone of strong action if they supported the crusade against the Jews. He did not want such a movement to prevail in the area under his control. Therefore, he supported and protected the Jews that were under his power.