In 1212, an series of tragic and melancholy events took place which have dubbed "the Children's Crusade".  This is a bit of a misnomer because the action was never officially sanctioned by the Church and, therefore, was not technically a crusade (Mayer, p.204).  The importance of these marches by various groups of children are debated.  It is true that they did not serve to advance the course of European history and politics at all; however, they cannot be ignored because they provide valuable insight into thirteenth century thinking.

            To understand why large groups of children, mostly between the ages of ten and eighteen (Mayer, p.203), would pack up, leave home and embrace danger, it is necessary to look at the social-political-ecclesiastical climate of the early 1200's.  Cox wrote that, "The impulses which bring vast crowds together for any purpose are always more or less contagious; and the middle ages exhibit, throughout, a series of enthusiastic risings" (p.297) and dubs the Children's Crusade an example of "superstition set in motion".  In many ways this was true.  For a variety of reasons the children believed that they could succeed where their elders had failed.

            The power of the popes had grown immensely since the start of the crusades; "Urban had taken the reins of authority in his hands . . . the apostolic lords who came after him did not release [them]" (Lamb, p.319).  This led to corruption.  The lands of crusaders were often left to be administered by clerics during crusades; land questions ended up being tried not in feudal courts but in ecclesiastical ones.  The practice of selling exemptions to crusading vows also came into being (Lamb, p.319).

            The Fourth Crusade was a travesty of the very ideals of crusading.  The stated purpose had been to reclaim the Holy Land via Egypt (Chaney, class notes).  What had happened was the sack of an Italian city, Zara, by crusaders and the capture of Constantinople by Latins.  Both cities were Christian cities.  One might expect this to dampen enthusiasm for the crusades, as all it did was extend the power of the pope from the North seas to edge of Palestine, but as Mayer writes, "On the contrary the precedent of a crusade against Christians was followed by considerable crusading activity in Europe itself" (p.202). 

            Thus by 1212 there was war in Europe on three fronts: the Baltic coast, in Languedoc (southern France) and in Spain (Riley, p.141).  Of these, only the conflict in Spain fit the original crusading ideals even in part since it was the reconquista of the peninsula from Muslim forces.  The Livonian Crusade (Baltics) was relatively small, but called by the pope and technically valid, "missionary crusade" to carve out and defend a Christian community among the pagans near Riga (Riley, pp.130-131), not exactly the original intent of the crusades.

            The conflict in Languedoc was the worst corruption of the idea as it was directed against the Albigensians, a group of heretics (dualists) led by Raymond VI of Toulouse.  Led by Simon de Montfort it quickly degenerated into scandal.  "The original crusading ideal had been perverted by being used to justify war against Christians even if they were heretics" (Mayer, p.202).  The Albigensian Crusade is probably the most direct cause of the Children's Crusade.  On one hand, it stirred up great popular enthusiasm for crusading through the preaching of such advocates as William of Paris and James of Vitry during the winter of 1211-1212.  On the other hand it represented much of what was wrong with the crusades, improper motives and corrupt leaders.  Despite four crusades against the east and a variety of wars in Europe itself, regardless of if they were justified or not, the fact was that Saladin still held Jerusalem.

            Another area that may have affected the mindset of young would-be crusaders was a concept called the "Peace of God" which had been instituted three generations earlier.  Clerics, monks, nuns, and later shepherds, children, merchants and travellers were not to be harmed, nor were weapons allowed within thirty paces of crosses, bell towers or in churches on Sundays.  The concept failed, so the "Truce of God" was introduced.  There was to be no violence (attacking, wounding, burning, stealing, etc.) between vespers on Wednesday and sunrise Monday.  All who took a vow to observe this truce faithfully would be granted an indulgence; those who broke it could be excommunicated.  This was also failing, but the First Crusade renewed interest in it (Lamb, p.319).  The failure of their elders to keep such seemingly simple conditions was seen as a reason why later crusades failed; they were not pure in heart.

            To some degrees, a cult of "the Innocents" had grown up in various places in Europe.  This entailed a deep reverence for those infants under the age of two that had been killed by the order of King Herod in his attempt to destroy the Christ Child.  They were said to be represented in the Church by their youngest members, the children.  Innocents' Day was December 28.  On that day children would choose and consecrate their own child bishop (Mayer, p.204).  From such practices arose the belief that the poorest and the purest would be able to recapture Jerusalem, unarmed.

            The idea of a children's movement was not completely unprecedented before 1212.  When Urban II sent out the call for the First Crusade he stressed knights and footsoldiers while forbidding clerics to go (Riley, p.26).  Those were the only classes he was thinking of.  However, the call fired enthusiasm among unexpected sectors of the population: peasants, women, children, elderly and the sick.  The crusade was seen as special type of a pilgrimage more than a military exercise (which may help explain the lack of weaponry and finance that characterized the Children's Crusade).  Pilgrimages were often sparked by a search for a cure for illness and the preaching of the First Crusade coincided with outbreaks of ignis sacer, an unpleasant disease, in France (Riley, p.35).  And so children were known to join the First, and subsequent, Crusades.  Even before that, penitential movements that saw the path to salvation in working to build the great cathedrals of Europe had attracted gangs made up solely of children come to do what they felt was their part (Mayer, p.203).

            Thus, the stage was set for the exercise in futility called the Children's Crusade.  The precedent for child involvement was set; the idea of crusading was firmly established; religious fervor was in the air with the preaching against the Albigensians; a cult of the Innocents had grown up, yet corruption was spreading, and the elders were seen to have failed because of it.

            It should be noted that the Children's Crusade was not a monolithic event (Cox, p.298).  There were several smaller gatherings of children that joined each other and split up into different groups at the beginning and end of the "Crusade".  There is an implication that Stephen of Cloyes and Nicholas of Cologne, the most famous leaders were not the only leaders (Riley, p.141).  There was no call sent out for this campaign; it occurred spontaneously, children joining the movement as they marched (Lamb, p.320). 

            Perhaps the greatest tragedy of the Children's Crusade was that neither church nor secular leaders took much trouble to stop it (Mayer, p.204).  There were exceptions, the French king managed to send home a large group that had come to Paris with Stephen (Mayer, p. 204) and the Bishop of Brindisi stopped part of the group that had made its way that far south (Lamb, p.320).  Part of the group is said to have made its way to Rome where Innocent III released the children of their vows to take the cross (Riley, p.141).  The chroniclers are harsh in their treatment of the event.  As adults they held none of the illusions that fired the young, and often portray the whole thing as the work of the devil (Mayer, p.205).  However, there are traces in the writings of an uneasy conscious on the part of those recording the story.

            The story has interested people throughout history because of its tragic nature (Lyon, p.928) and is perhaps one of the basis for the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamilin, the telling of which places the blame for the loss of their children very squarely on the shoulders of the adults.  As a crusade, the Children's was a failure, but perhaps Harold Lamb sums it up best when he writes,

"They did not look any longer for Jerusalem.  Because, in their childish hearts, they had sought not the Jerusalem yonder in Outremer, but that other City of God, lying unseen and unknown to men, beyond all the seas of the earth."    (p.321)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 

Chaney, Terry.  Class notes.  Church History.  Ozark Christian College.  Joplin, MO.  Fall 1992.

 

Cox, George W. (with copious notes by Henry Ketcham).  The Crusades.  New York:  A.L. Burt Company, Publishers.  1906.

 

Lamb, Harold.  The Crusades: Iron Men and Saints.  Garden City, NY:  Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc.  1930.

 

Lyon, Bryce.  "Crusades".  The World Book Encyclopedia, 4:926-928.  Chicago: Field Enterprises Educational Corporation.        1977.

 

Mayer, Hans Eberhard.  The Crusades.  Oxford: Oxford University   Press.  1972.

 

Riley-Smith, Jonathan.  The Crusades: A Short History.  New Haven: Yale University Press.  1987.

 

___________.  The First Crusade and the idea of crusading.  Philadelphia:  University of Pennsylvannia Press.  1986.

 

Walker, Williston, et al.  A History of the Christian Church.  Fourth ed.  New York:  Charles Scribner's Sons.  1985.