The popular crusades were several movements "animated by

crusading The First Crusade inspired the crusading movement, which became an important part of late medieval western culture. The movement influenced the Church, politics, the economy, society and created a distinct ideology that described, regulated, a ...

enthusiasm" but unsanctioned by the Church. They contrast with the "official crusades" authorised by the

Papacy The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

. While the latter consisted of professional armies led by

apostolic legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title ''legatus'') is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic ...

s, the popular crusades were generally disorganized and consisted of peasants, artisans and only the occasional knight.Gary Dickson, "Popular Crusades and Children's Crusade", in

André Vauchez André Vauchez FBA (born 24 July 1938, Thionville) is a French medievalist specialising in the history of Christian spirituality. He has studied at the École normale supérieure and the École française de Rome. His thesis, defended in 1978, ...

(ed.), ''Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages'' (James Clarke & Co., 2002 nline 2005. The term "popular crusade" is a modern scholarly convention. The distinction between the "hierarchical" (or official) and the popular impulse in crusading was first made by

Leopold von Ranke Leopold von Ranke (; 21 December 1795 – 23 May 1886) was a German historian and a founder of modern source-based history. He was able to implement the seminar teaching method in his classroom and focused on archival research and the analysis of ...

in the nineteenth century.

Giles Constable Giles Constable (1 June 1929 – 17 January 2021) was a historian of the Middle Ages. Constable was mainly interested in the religion and culture of the 11th and 12th centuries, in particular the abbey of Cluny and its abbot Peter the Vener ...

"The Historiography of the Crusades"
in Angeliki E. Laiou and Roy Parviz Mottahedeh (eds.), ''The Crusades from the Perspective of Byzantium and the Muslim World'' (Dumbarton Oaks, 2001). Peter the Hermit

These events demonstrate the power of crusading ideas and the engagement of non-noble believers with the great events of Latin Christendom. All crusades that were not preached officially were illicit and unaccompanied by papal representation. But it was not until the 1320 that the papacy criticised a popular crusade. The objectives were traditional, such as regaining Jerusalem or liberating the captive King

Louis IX of France 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 ...

. Victories in the

Smyrniote crusade The Smyrniote crusades (1343–1351) were two Crusades sent by Pope Clement VI against the Emirate of Aydin under Umur Bey which had as their principal target the coastal city of Smyrna in Asia Minor. The first Smyrniote crusade was the brainch ...

of 1344 aroused mass enthusiasm in Tuscany and Lombardy. Those who took part in popular crusades perceived themselves as authentic crusaders, evident in the use of pilgrimage and crusade emblems, including the cross.Gary Dickson, "Popular Crusades", in Alan V. Murray (ed.), ''The Crusades: An Encyclopedia'' (ABC-CLIO, 2006), vol. 3, pp. 975–979. ISBN 978-1-57607-862-4.

List of popular crusades

The movements typically regarded as popular crusades are listed below in chronological order: *

People's Crusade The People's Crusade was the beginning phase of the First Crusade whose objective was to retake the Holy Land, and Jerusalem in particular, from Islamic rule. After in 1095 the head of the Roman Catholic Church Pope Urban II started to urge faith ...

(1096) * Children's Crusade (1212) *

Shepherds' Crusade (1251) The Shepherds' Crusade of 1251 was a popular crusade in northern France aimed at rescuing King Louis IX during the Seventh Crusade. In 1249, Saint Louis IX of France went away on crusade, leaving his mother, Blanche of Castile, as regent du ...

Crusade of the Poor The Crusade of the Poor was an unauthorised military expedition—one of the so-called "popular crusades"—undertaken in the spring and summer of 1309 by members of the lower classes from England, Flanders, Brabant, northern France and the Ger ...

(1309) *

Shepherds' Crusade (1320) The Shepherds' Crusade of 1320 was a popular crusade in Normandy in June 1320. Also well known as "the Pastoureaux of 1320". It originally began when a large group of common-folk banded together to preach a crusade after a teenage shepherd said ...

* Hungarian Peasants' Crusade (1514)

References

{{Reflist Crusades