Looked upon as one of the most strange crusades, the Children’s Crusade was just as it sounds. It is “one of the more unusual events in Medieval England.” Children who were fortunate would have parents to be taken away; some did not have parents and were living on the street, or under the authority of an owner who was more like a work manager. Not much is know about this crusade. It is often also considered a mystery as far as the whereabouts of the crusading children goes. The one thing that is know is that it was a failure, and that children should not have been crusading. (Trueman)
Although never technically considered a crusade without the blessing of the pope, the Children’s Crusade was under the authority of Pope Innocent III. Rome was not to sure about having Children replace men who had fought in the previous years. This was indeed what was the most odd thing about the crusade, along with the fact that some of the children were as young as four years old. Never before had any crusade been fulfilled by children.
“The crusade involved what appeared to have been a spontaneous gathering of children both in France and German, who were inspired by the thought that where the strong and powerful had failed to recover the Hold Land, the poor and lowly might succeed in accordance with Christ's teachings that the "meek" might "inherit the earth".”
In France, a 12 year old boy named Stephen gathered some of his friends and went to King Philip with a letter proclaiming that he himself was chosen by Christ to “preach a new crusade”. Stephen was unsuccessful in persuading the king into forming a new crusade, but was successful in forming a new crusade himself. Stephen had believed that once the crusade was put into action, they would be able to make the journey to Jerusalem and convert the Muslims successfully. He believed that when they got to the waters of France, that the ocean would simply part for them. They would then be forced to board and cross by boat.
Back in Germany, Nicholas gathered and convinced what would be the new crusaders. Nicholas was very successful in gathering children. He was able to get them to leave their home, and was able to in just a few weeks attract thousands of children. Nicholas lead his group to Italy
through the Alps. This journey was very difficult. The children had to climb the large mountains, during the winter, and all the way from Germany to Italy. -Even now this is still a very difficult journey to drive. The roads are very narrow and high in the mountains. It takes about 20 hours to drive nonstop from the area that Nicholas started from to Italy.-
Both groups faced the problem of the harsh winter, long distant travels, and the fact that they were only children Not many children actually ended up making it to the Holy land. As reported from by a pope returning from an African cruise, the children were attacked by Muslim pirates. The 2 other remaining French sips finally made it to Jerusalem where most of them were put into the trading market, and some even killed as slaves! This would be know as one of the most unsuccessful crusades.
Work Cited
Harpur, James. The Crusades: An Illustrated History. 2005. Thunder's Mouth Press
Powell, James M.. Anatomy of a Crusade, 1213-1221, 1086. Pennsylvania Press
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