The popular crusade led in 1251 by the figure known as the Master of Hungary was the Shepherds' Crusade. It was also called the Crusade of the Pastoreaux, after the French word for shepherds or herdsmen.
The movement arose after King Louis IX was captured by Egyptian forces during the Seventh Crusade. News of the king's defeat caused widespread distress in France, where many people believed that the nobility and clergy had failed to rescue him. An elderly Hungarian monk living in France, known as Jacob or the Master of Hungary, claimed that the Virgin Mary had instructed him to lead a peasant army to save Louis.
Thousands of followers, including young peasants, women and children, gathered from northern France and surrounding regions. Medieval chroniclers gave very large figures, sometimes as many as 60,000, though the exact number is uncertain. The movement soon became disorderly and hostile toward clergy, religious institutions and Jewish communities. Queen Blanche of Castile ordered its suppression, and the Master was killed near Bourges. It was not the same movement as the earlier Children's Crusade.