The Children's Crusade

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Eighty-thousand children, under the age of twelve, left for the Holy Lands and never returned. The Children's Crusade, 1212 AD, occured in the midst of the Fourth and Fifth Crusades, while the Crusade spirit was dwindling down. One French and one German Crusade formed the Children’s Crusade (Alchin). The French Crusade got led by Stephen of Cloyes, a shepherd with no reading or writing skills. Stephen of Cloyes called children to action by calling them in the name of Jesus. However, the German's Children Crusade did not consist of only children. The Germans were led by a young boy name Nicholas. Nicholas led fifty thousand people: religious men, unmarried women, and young children. The plan pertained of marching to Vendom, then to board a ship and sail to Mariseilles, and to walk to the Holy Land (Trueman). Both these crusades were powered by the children's faith in god, neither money nor fame mattered (Alchin). Compared to other crusades, the Children's Crusade remained a single-minded attempt to save the Holy Land.
To rid of aggressive knights, to earn money, and to receive fame, were purposes which spurred every crusade. However, the Children’s Crusade had only the desire of saving the Holy Land (Beck, et al 346-344). The kids would chant "Lord God, exalt Christianity. Lord God, restore to us the true cross" (Alchin). True faith of these children is evident. By the chant, the children put their lives in god’s hands. Children involved in the Children’s Crusade never made it back; they earned no fame. The children were not kings, nobles, or knights, so they had no support. As powerful leaders kings, nobles, and knights were able to get the support of the Church and people, one feat the children could not achieve. The Children's...

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...e the other five were sold as slaves in Africa where white children slaves were worth lots (Trueman).
The Children’s Crusade needlessly ended the lives of many. Although they had no other reasons than regaining Jerusalem, it was a lost cause. Stephen of Cloyes and Nicholas, though with a true purpose, caused only more pain and sorrow. Children left their family behind, “This they did despite the wishes of their parents, relatives, and friends who sought to make them drop back” (Halsall). Some parents encouraged their kids to go, but at the same time, even more parents tried to keep there kids at their side (Halsall). The Pope himself at one time stopped Nicholas’s Crusade and told them to go back home (Trueman). Even though the Crusade failed, and none of the children ever were heard of again, England once again remembered the importance of the Holy Land (Trueman).

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