Late Middle Ages · Europe · Religion

1320

Shepherds' Crusade ravages southern France

1320

A strange children's movement sprang up in Normandy and rolled south: adolescents, beggars, ex-soldiers, convinced God wanted them in the Holy Land. They reached Aquitaine, massacred Jewish communities in Toulouse and Montclus, attacked royal officials, and were eventually dispersed by royal troops. Thousands died without seeing a Mediterranean shore, let alone Jerusalem.