Aybak, who had returned to his position of atabeg. Egypt would remain a Mamluk sultanate through 1517. Henry III of England took the Cross with many of his subjects in the spring of 1250 but convinced the pope to postpone any expedition. Louis’ brothers refused to send help from France where public opinion was indignant but disillusioned. The French nobles contented themselves with bitter comments against the pope who preferred to preach a crusade against the Christian Imperialists rather than to send help to those who were struggling against the infidel. On 13 December 1250, Frederick II, who remained respected in Muslim circles, died in Italy. His son Conrad II of Jerusalem lacked the emperor's prestige but inherited the pope's crusade against his father. Blanche of Castile went so far as to confiscate the property of any royal vassal who responded to the appeal of Innocent IV for a crusade against Conrad in 1251. But neither she nor her advisers ventured to send reinforcements to the East. The Shepherds' Crusade The Shepherds’ Crusade (Crucesignatio pastorellorum) of 1251 was a popular crusade of poor shepherds and peasants from the Low Countries and northern France who set out with the objective of aiding the captive Louis IX and rescuing the Holy Land from the infidels. After his release from the Egyptians, Louis sent his brothers to France to obtain relief and his mother Blanche of Castile, acting as regent, endeavoured in vain to find reinforcements as neither the noblemen nor the clergy would help. At this juncture the citizens rose up, announcing that they would go to the king's rescue. At Eastertime 1251, a mysterious person known as the Le Maître de Hongrie (Master of Hungary) began to preach a crusade to the shepherds in the north of France, always holding a map supposedly given to him by the Virgin Mary. He drew large crowds and allowed them to take the cross without papal authorization. The movement spread rapidly and soon an army of the Pastoureaux of nearly 60,000 men was formed, carrying a banner on which was depicted the Blessed Virgin appearing to the Master of Hungary. The army soon showed themselves hostile to the clergy, especially to the Dominicans, whom they accused of having induced the king to go to the Holy Land. A host of less-than-desirable men and women soon joined their ranks, and with growing audacity attacked clerics