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| The Children's Crusade, by Gustav Dore |
The Children's Crusade is the name given to a variety of fictional and factual events in 1212.
They commonly combine some or all of these elements: visions by a boy, children marching to south Italy, an attempt to free
the Holy Land, and children being sold into slavery. Several conflicting accounts exist and the facts of the situation continue
to be a subject of debate among historians.
According to recent research there seems to have been two movements of people in 1212 in France
and Germany.
In the first movement Nicholas, a German shepherd, led a group across
the Alps and into Italy in the early spring of 1212. About 7,000 arrived in Genoa in late August. When their plans failed
the band broke up. Some left for home others may have gone to Rome. An unfortunate few may have traveled down the Rhone to
Marseille where they were probably sold into slavery. None ever reached the Holy Land.
Where truth and legend unite
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A shepherd boy named Stephen de Cloyes from the village of Châteaudun led the second movement. He claimed that he bore a letter for the king of France from Jesus. Attracting a crowd
of over 30,000 he went to Saint-Denis where he was seen to work miracles. On the orders of Philip II the crowd was sent home.
Later chroniclers embellished these events. Recent research suggests the participants
were not children at least not very young ones. In the early 1200s, bands of wandering poor started cropping up throughout
Europe. These were people displaced by economic changes at a time that forced many poor peasants in northern France and Germany
to sell their land. These bands were referred to as pueri (Latin for "boys") in a condescending manner.
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| Peter the Hermit preaching the First Crusade |
Peter the Hermit
Peter the Hermit (died 1131) was a priest of Amiens and a leader of the First Crusade. According
to Anna Comnena, he attempted to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem before 1096, but was prevented by the Turks from reaching
his final destination.Peter joined the only other section which had succeeded in reaching Constantinople, that of Walter the
Penniless.
With the joint forces who had made themselves a nuisance by pilfering the local region, he
crossed to the Asiatic shore in the beginning of August. In spite of his warnings, the pauperes began hostilities against
the Turks. Peter returned to Constantinople in despair of their recklessness in the hope of procuring supplies.In his absence
the Turks cut the army to pieces and he was left in Constantinople without any followers during the winter of 1096-1097. He
joined the incoming ranks in May 1097, with a small following. This tale of woe has been attached to many stories becoming
a metaphor of pride and failure for the crusades that followed.
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