Recently I found an article on the Web stating that the Children’s Crusade is most likely fiction, and is regarded as an actual event simply because everyone “knows” it happened. Personally I find this theory amazingly plausible. However, it seemed best to ask for a second opinion. –Chris Williams, via e-mail
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Chalk this one up to the generation gap, medieval version. The popular image of the Children’s Crusade is of hordes of prepubescent tykes trekking across Europe to liberate the Holy Land with love. Amazing? Yes. Plausible? No. However, make the kids teenagers and for “crusade” substitute “rave,” “meetup,” or what have you–suddenly it all makes sense. It wasn’t the Children’s Crusade, it was the 13th-century equivalent of touring with the Grateful Dead. The difference between then and now isn’t the kids, it’s what the adults let them get away with. It’s hard to imagine one of today’s overprotective moms saying: “Bye, honey, have fun with Frederick in Jerusalem. Make sure you get back by 1230 AD.”
The situation was a little different in Germany, where it appears there really was a children’s crusade of sorts–that is, the participants were actually bound for Jerusalem, at least in their minds. Numerous chronicles suggest that bands of young people arose in several different locales and headed south along the Rhine, at some point merging under the leadership of a fellow named Nicholas. Were they actually children, though? Doubtful. Scholars argue that in medieval Latin the word puer, child or boy, could also be applied to a young man, especially if he was landless or otherwise of low standing–and folks with nothing to lose are always up for a little adventure. The distances traveled (roughly 35 kilometers a day) strongly suggest this wasn’t the T-ball crowd. Quite a few pilgrims perished on the journey over the Alps. Nonetheless, on August 25, 1212, about 7,000 reached the Italian port of Genoa. Nicholas had promised that the sea would part, allowing them to hike to the Holy Land. When the Mediterranean didn’t cooperate, the crusade fizzled out.
