The Children’s Crusade: A Tragic Journey in 1212
Historical Accounts and Legends of 1212
The Children’s Crusade refers to a series of events, both real and fictional, that occurred in 1212, following the Fourth Crusade. Some historians integrate these events, which combine elements such as visions of a French or German boy, the intention of peacefully converting Muslims to Christianity, children marching to southern Italy, and the sale of children into slavery. There is much conflicting testimony, and the facts remain a subject of debate among historians.
The Traditional Narrative
The traditional narrative of the Children’s Crusade includes similar events. A child claimed to have been visited by Jesus Christ, who instructed him to deliver handwritten letters to the French king, urging him to lead a new crusade to recapture Jerusalem. After delivering the letters, the child returned to his hometown. The king dismissed the letters as a joke.
The child received a second visit from Jesus, this time entrusting him to lead a crusade of children to Jerusalem, believing the city would fall into Christian hands due to their purity and goodness. Jesus also told him not to fear the sea, as it would part as it did for Moses. Simultaneously, a German boy was also reportedly sent by Jesus on the same mission, gathering a smaller number of German children.
Twenty to thirty thousand children joined them, heading towards Nice. Along the way, they raided cities and towns for food. More than half of the children defected on their way to Nice, and many others starved.
Finally, fewer than two thousand children and adults arrived in Nice. They spent two weeks praying, as Jesus had instructed, for the sea to part from sunrise until sunset, but nothing happened. Two merchants offered them seven boats to cross the sea. They boarded the boats and headed for the Holy Land. Two ships sank off Sardinia, and the other five reached Alexandria, where the children were sold into slavery by the two merchants who had “lent” them the boats. This marked the end of the crusade.
Some historians suggest that the participants were not children but adults and other individuals. One account claims that a French child grew up and returned to France as a priest, which is how the story became known.
Modern Interpretations
Recent research indicates that there were two movements of people (of all ages) in 1212 in Germany and France, whose similarities may have inspired writers to develop the myth.
Nicholas of Cologne’s Movement
In the first movement, Nicholas, a shepherd from Germany, led a group through the Alps to Italy in early spring. About 7,000 people reached Genoa in August. However, their plans failed when the waters did not part for them, and the group disbanded. Some returned home, others went to Rome, and some may have followed the Rhone to Marseilles, where they were likely sold into slavery. Few reached their homes, and none reached the Holy Land.
Stephen of Cloyes’ Movement
The second movement was led by a “shepherd boy” named Stephen of Cloyes, near Châteaudun. In June, he claimed to carry a letter from Jesus to the king of France. He attracted a group of 30,000, with whom he went to Saint-Denis, where he reportedly performed miracles. Under the orders of Philip II of France or the board of the University of Paris, the crowd was sent home, and many indeed returned. None of the contemporary sources mention any plans to go to Jerusalem. Recent research suggests that the participants were not children, or at least not very young.
The Pueri and the Origins of the Myth
At the beginning of the 1200s, groups of vagrants appeared in Europe. People were displaced by economic changes, which forced many poor farmers in northern France and Germany to sell their land. These groups were called pueri (Latin for “boys” or “children”) in a patronizing way, similar to how rural people in the United States might be called “farm kids.” This resulted in bands of poor people who united in a religious protest, transforming forced wandering into a religious mission. The pueri marched, following the Christian Cross and associating themselves with the biblical journey of Jesus. However, this was not a prelude to a holy war.
Years later, writers read accounts of these processions and translated pueri as “children” without understanding its original meaning. Thus, the Children’s Crusade was born. The resulting story illustrates how ingrained the concept of the crusade was at the time. Chroniclers assumed that the pueri must have been crusaders, and in their innocent return to the founding features of the crusade, they saw parallels with Peter the Hermit and a similar tragic destiny.
According to Matthew Paris, one of the leaders of the Children’s Crusade later became “The Maître de Hongrie,” the leader of the Shepherds’ Crusade in 1251.