When the governor of Antioch appealed to the Crusaders' princes to restrain the Tafurs, the princes had to admit to having little sway over them. Indeed, the Muslims greatly dreaded the Tafurs, much more so than even the rest of the Crusaders. Īrguably, what made the Tafurs infamous was their disregard for danger and reported acts of cannibalism: as starvation befell the Crusader army in Antioch, the Tafurs showed little hesitation in consuming the bodies of fallen enemies. Hence, they were viciously rapacious and ruthless in the search of spoils. Anything gained through plunder however, was legitimate, and in fact seen as validation of God's favour towards their poverty. They wielded clubs, knives, hatchets etc, but were not allowed to have money or sophisticated weapons, otherwise they'd be sent to fight with the regular army. Tafurs wore no shoes, little clothing and barely lived off roots or herbs, frequently exhibiting sores and bruises throughout their bodies and were kept separated from the rest of the Crusaders. 'King Tafur' took harsh vows of poverty, relinquished his weapons and armour and donned a sack-cloth and a scythe, urging the rest of his followers to do the same.

'Tafur' appears to mean just 'beggar' or 'vagrant'. The Tafurs took their name from a horseless Norman knight, who assumed the organization and armed leadership of peasants gathered by the preaching and spiritual leadership of Peter the Hermit, and so became known as 'King Tafur'.

Zealots following strict oaths of poverty, they are said to have committed acts of cannibalism during the Siege of Antioch. Tafurs were a group of participants of the First Crusade, under the Franks.

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