The conquest of Constantinople in 1204 by the Fourth Crusade was the last significant result of the Crusader movement. The idea of a holy war had exhausted itself, but the papacy continued to call on Christians to capture Jerusalem. The fanaticism of the common people was expressed in its ugliest form in the Children's Crusade of 1212.
The emergence of the idea of a children's crusade
The successes of the Muslims in the East significantly cooled the warlike ardor of the crusaders. The calls of the Pope found a response only among the peasantry. A crazy idea arose that victory could only be achieved by innocent, unarmed children, because real warriors were hampered by the burden of accumulated sins.
Rice. 1. Engraving by G. Dore.
The history of movements in France and Germany provides a brief overview of the Children's Crusade.
French Children's Crusade
In May 1212, the 12-year-old shepherd Etienne came to the Abbey of Saint-Denis (Paris). He declared that he was God's messenger and should lead the children's crusade. The Catholic clergy took advantage of the boy for their own purposes. Etienne received help. He began preaching among peasants and performing “miracles.”
Many imitators of Etienne appeared. Peasant children no older than 12 years old gathered around the new preacher. In Vendôme, about 30 thousand children gathered in a month.
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The children quickly reached Marseille. Here the shipowners agreed to transport them by sea. During the voyage, a storm broke out. Two ships carrying children sank near Sardinia. The remaining five brought the children to Egypt, where they were sold into slavery.
The child traffickers were subsequently executed, but the very fact of using children's fanaticism was monstrous.
Rice. 2. Model of the Crusader ship.
The children who reached Marseille were extremely surprised that the sea did not part for the “holy army.”
German Children's Crusade
Like Etienne in France, a child preacher also appeared in Germany. Ten-year-old Niklas, together with his father, preached the idea of a crusade in the Lower Rhine regions.
Niklas' sermons were a great success. In a short time, about 20 thousand children gathered in Cologne. The army of young knights of the cross moved south. While crossing the Alps, two thirds of the children died of starvation.
Near Rome, some of the crusaders turned back, the rest headed to the port of Brindisi. Only the intervention of the local bishop protected the children from the hands of slave traders.
On the way back, the German young crusaders almost all died from hunger and disease.
Pope Innocent III did not condemn this crazy idea. He granted the surviving children a “respite” until they came of age, after which they had to fulfill their holy vow.
The result of the children's crusade
The French and German Children's Crusades are often combined into one movement, as they have similar features :
- the children's fanatical faith in their holy mission, supported by the clergy;
- Catholicism did not provide the children with any support other than spiritual guidance;
- slave traders took advantage of the children’s gullibility (or only tried to);
- tragic outcome (senseless death of thousands of children).
Results of children's hikes were the following:
- disappointment in the religious sense of the Crusader movement;
- growing calls from the Pope for a new crusade to avenge the deaths of children.
Rice. 3. Engraving by G. Dore.
What have we learned?
After the Christians captured Constantinople, the Crusader movement began to decline. It was reborn in a distorted form - a children's crusade. The children were doomed to death. The Catholic clergy is responsible for their death and slavery, which only incited the fanaticism of children and their parents.
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Europe. Many still dreamed of the return of the lost Holy Sepulcher, but during the IV Crusade it was not Jerusalem that was captured, but Orthodox Constantinople. Soon the armies of the Crusaders will again go to the East and suffer another defeat in Palestine and Egypt. In 1209, the Albigensian Wars began, one of the consequences of which was the creation of the Papal Inquisition in 1215. Livonia was conquered by the Swordsmen. Nicaea fought against the Seljuks and the Latin Empire.
In the year of interest to us, 1212, the Czech Republic received the “Golden Sicilian Bull” and became a kingdom, Vsevolod the Great Nest died in Rus', the kings of Castile, Aragon and Navarre defeated the army of the Caliph of Cordoba at Las Navas de Tolosa. And at the same time, some absolutely incredible events are happening, which are difficult to believe, but still necessary. We are talking about the so-called Children's Crusades, which are mentioned in 50 quite serious sources (20 of them are reports from contemporary chroniclers). All descriptions are extremely short: either these strange adventures were not given of great importance, or they were already perceived then as an absurd incident that should be ashamed.
Gustave Doré, Children's Crusade
The appearance of the “hero”
It all started in May 1212, when an unremarkable shepherd boy named either Etienne or Stephen met a monk returning from Palestine. In exchange for a piece of bread, the stranger gave the boy some strange scroll, called himself Christ, and ordered him, having gathered an army of innocent children, to go with it to Palestine in order to liberate the Holy Sepulcher. At least, this is exactly how Etienne-Stéphane himself spoke about those events - at first he was confused and contradicted himself, but then he got into character and spoke without hesitation. 30 years later, one of their chroniclers wrote that Stephen was “an early-matured scoundrel and the nest of all vices.” But this evidence cannot be considered objective - after all, at that time the disastrous results of the adventure organized by this teenager were already known. And it is unlikely that Etienne-Stéphane’s activities would have been such a success if he had such a dubious reputation in the surrounding area. And the success of his preaching was simply deafening - not only among children, but also among adults. 12-year-old Stephen came to the court of the French king Philip Augustus in the Abbey of Saint-Denis not alone, but at the head of a large religious procession.“The knights and adults failed to liberate Jerusalem because they went there with dirty thoughts. We are children and we are pure. God has abandoned adults who are mired in sins, but will part the sea waters on the way to the Holy Land for pure-hearted children,”
– Stefan said to the king.
The young crusaders, according to him, did not need shields, swords and spears, for their souls were sinless and the power of Jesus’ love was with them.
Pope Innocent III initially supported this dubious initiative, declaring:
“These children serve as a reproach to us adults: while we sleep, they joyfully stand up for the Holy Land.”
Pope Innocent III, lifetime portrait, fresco, Subiaco monastery, Italy
He will soon repent of this, but it will be too late, and moral responsibility for the death and mutilated fate of tens of thousands of children will remain with him forever. But Philip II hesitated.
Philip II Augustus
A man of his time, he was also inclined to believe in all sorts of signs and miracles of God. But Philip was the king of not the smallest state and a hardened pragmatist; his common sense opposed participation in this more than dubious adventure. He knew well about the power of money and the power of professional armies, but the power of the love of Jesus... It was customary to hear these words at sermons in church, but to seriously count on the fact that the Saracens, who had repeatedly defeated the knightly armies of Europe, would suddenly capitulate to unarmed children, was, to put it mildly, naively speaking. As a result, he turned to the University of Paris for advice. The professors of this educational institution showed prudence, rare for those times, by decreeing that the children should be sent home, because this whole campaign was Satan’s idea. And then something happened that no one expected: the shepherd boy from Cloix refused to obey his king, announcing the gathering of new crusaders in Vendôme. And Stephen’s popularity was already such that the king did not dare to interfere with him, fearing a riot.
Stephen's Sermon
Matthew Paris, an English chronicler, wrote about Stephen-Etienne:
“As soon as his peers saw him or heard how they followed him in countless numbers, finding themselves in the networks of the devil’s machinations and singing in imitation of their mentor, they left their fathers and mothers, nurses and all their friends, and, what is most surprising, they could not stop neither the bolts nor the persuasion of the parents.”
Moreover, the hysteria turned out to be contagious: other “prophets” from 8 to 12 years old began to appear in different cities and villages, who claimed to be sent by Stephen. Against the backdrop of general madness, Stefan himself and some of his followers even “cured the possessed.” Under their leadership, processions were organized with the singing of psalms. Participants in the campaign dressed in simple gray shirts and short pants, with a beret as a headdress. A cross made of fabric of different colors was sewn onto the chest - red, green or black. They performed under the banner of Saint Dionysius (Oriflamme). Among these children were girls dressed as boys.
Participants in the Children's Crusade
The Crusades of 1212: “children’s” only in name?
However, it should be said right away that the “children’s crusades” were not entirely and not entirely children’s. Giovanni Micolli noted back in 1961 that the Latin word pueri (“boys”) was at that time used to designate commoners - regardless of their age. And Peter Reds in 1971 divided all the sources that tell about the events of the campaign of 1212 into three groups. The first included texts written around 1220; their authors were contemporaries of the events and therefore this evidence is of particular value. Secondly, those written between 1220 and 1250: their authors could also be contemporaries, or use eyewitness accounts. And, finally, texts written after 1250. And it immediately became clear that “children’s” campaigns are called “children’s” campaigns only in the works of the authors of the third group.Thus, it can be argued that this campaign became a kind of repetition of the Crusade of the Poor People of 1095, and the boy Stephen was the “reincarnation” of Peter of Amiens.
Stephen and his crusaders
But, unlike the events of 1095, in 1212 a huge number of children of both sexes actually went on the Crusade. Total number“Crusaders” in France, according to historians, numbered about 30,000 people. Among the adults who went on a campaign with children, according to contemporaries, were monks, whose goal was “to plunder to the fullest and to pray to the fullest,” “elders who had fallen into a second childhood,” and the poor, going “not for Jesus, but for the sake of a piece of bread.” " In addition, there were many criminals who were hiding from justice and hoping to “combine business with pleasure”: to rob and pillage in the name of Christ, while receiving a “pass to heaven” and forgiveness of all sins. Among these crusaders there were also impoverished nobles, many of whom decided to go on a campaign to hide from their creditors. There were also the younger sons of noble families, who were immediately surrounded by professional swindlers of all stripes, who sensed an opportunity for profit, and prostitutes (yes, there were also quite a few “harlots” in this strange army). It can be assumed that children were needed only at the first stage of the campaign: in order for the sea to part, the walls of the fortresses collapsed and the Saracens, who had fallen into madness, obediently exposed their necks to the blows of Christian swords. And then boring things had to follow and completely uninteresting for the children: division of spoils and lands, distribution of positions and titles, solution of the “Islamic issue” on the newly acquired lands. And the adults, presumably, unlike children, were armed and ready to do a little work with swords if necessary - so as not to distract the miracle worker who led them from performing the main and main task. Stefan-Etienne was considered almost a saint in this motley crowd; he set off on the journey in a brightly painted carriage under a canopy, which was escorted by young men from the most “noble” families.
Stefan at the beginning of the hike
Meanwhile in Germany
Similar events unfolded at this time in Germany. When rumors about the “wonderful shepherd boy” Stephen reached the banks of the Rhine, a certain unnamed shoemaker from Trier (a contemporary monk directly called him a “rogue fool”) sent his 10-year-old son Nicholas to preach at the Tomb of the Three Magi in Cologne. Some authors claim that Nicholas was mentally disabled, almost a holy fool, blindly carrying out the will of his greedy parent. Unlike the selfless (at least at first) boy Stefan, the pragmatic adult German immediately organized a collection of donations, most of which he put into his pocket without hesitation. Perhaps he intended to limit himself to that, but the situation quickly got out of control: before Nicholas and his dad had time to look back, they had from 20 to 40 thousand “crusaders” behind them, who still had to be led to Jerusalem. Moreover, they set out on the campaign even earlier than their French peers - at the end of June 1212. Unlike the hesitant French King Philip, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II immediately reacted sharply negatively to this idea, banning the propaganda of the new Crusade, and thereby saved many children - only natives of the Rhineland regions closest to Cologne took part in this adventure. But they turned out to be more than enough. It is curious that the motives of the organizers of the French and German campaigns turned out to be completely different. Stefan spoke about the need to free the Holy Sepulcher and promised his followers the help of angels with fiery swords, Nicholas called for revenge for the dead crusaders of Germany.
Children's map crusades
The huge “army” that set out from Cologne was subsequently divided into two columns. The first was led by Nicholas himself, and moved south along the Rhine through Western Swabia and Burgundy. The second column, led by another, unnamed, young preacher, went to the Mediterranean Sea through Franconia and Swabia. Of course, the campaign was extremely poorly prepared; many of its participants did not think about warm clothing, and food supplies soon ran out. The inhabitants of the lands through which the “crusaders” passed, fearing for their children, whom these strange pilgrims called with them, were unfriendly and aggressive.
Illustration from the book "History of Other Lands" by Arthur Guy Terry
As a result, only about half of those who left Cologne managed to reach the foothills of the Alps: the least persistent and most prudent lagged behind and returned home, remaining in the cities and villages they liked. Many people fell ill and died along the way. The rest blindly followed their young leader, not even suspecting what awaited them ahead.
Children's Crusade
The main difficulties awaited the “crusaders” during the crossing of the Alps: survivors claimed that dozens, if not hundreds of their comrades were dying every day, and there was no strength even to bury them. And only now, when German pilgrims covered the mountain roads in the Alps with their bodies, did the French “crusaders” set off.
The fate of the French "crusaders"
The path of Stephen’s army passed through the territory of his native France and turned out to be much easier. As a result, the French were ahead of the Germans: a month later they arrived in Marseille and saw the Mediterranean Sea, which, despite the sincere prayers offered daily by the pilgrims entering the water, did not part for them.
Still from the film “The Jeans Crusade,” 2006 (about a modern boy caught in 1212)
Help was offered by two merchants - Hugo Ferreus ("Iron") and William Porcus ("Pig"), who provided 7 ships for the further journey. Two ships crashed on the rocks of St. Peter's Island near Sardinia - fishermen found hundreds of corpses in this place. These remains were buried only 20 years later; the Church of the New Immaculate Infants was built on the common grave, which stood for almost three centuries, but was then abandoned, and now its location is not even known. Five other ships safely reached the other shore, but came not to Palestine, but to Algeria: it turned out that the “compassionate” Marseille merchants had sold the pilgrims in advance - European girls were highly valued in harems, boys were supposed to become slaves. But supply exceeded demand, and therefore some of the children and adults unsold at the local bazaar were sent to the markets of Alexandria. There, Sultan Malek Kamel, also known as Safadin, bought four hundred monks and priests: 399 of them spent the rest of their lives translating Latin texts into Arabic. But one was able to return to Europe in 1230 and spoke about the sad ending of this adventure. According to him, at that time there were about 700 French in Cairo, who had sailed from Marseille as children. There they ended their lives, no one showed interest in their fate, they didn’t even try to ransom them.
But not everyone was bought in Egypt, and therefore several hundred French “crusaders” still saw Palestine - on the way to Baghdad, where the last of them were sold. According to one source, the local caliph offered them freedom in exchange for conversion to Islam; only 18 of them refused, who were sold into slavery and ended their lives as slaves in the fields.
German "crusaders" in Italy
What happened to the German “children” (regardless of their age)? As we remember, only half of them managed to reach the Alpine Mountains; only a third of the remaining pilgrims managed to pass through the Alps. In Italy they were met with extreme hostility; city gates were closed in front of them, alms were denied, boys were beaten, girls were raped. From two to three thousand people from the first column, including Nicholas, still managed to reach Genoa.The Republic of St. George needed workers, and several hundred people remained in this city forever, but the bulk of the “crusaders” continued their campaign. The authorities of Pisa allocated them two ships, on which some of the pilgrims were sent to Palestine - and disappeared there without a trace. It is unlikely that their fate was better than that of those who remained in Italy. Some of the children from this column nevertheless reached Rome, where Pope Innocent III, horrified by their appearance, ordered them to return home. At the same time, he forced them to kiss the cross in the belief that “having reached the age of perfection,” they would complete the interrupted crusade. The remnants of the column scattered throughout Italy, and only a few of these pilgrims returned to Germany - the only ones of all.
The second column reached Milan, which fifty years ago was sacked by the troops of Frederick Barbarossa - it was difficult to imagine a more inhospitable city for German pilgrims. They claimed that they were hunted there like animals by dogs. Along the Adriatic coast they reached Brindisi. Southern Italy at that time was suffering from drought, which caused an unprecedented famine (local chroniclers even reported cases of cannibalism); it is easy to imagine how German beggars were treated there. However, there is information that the matter was not limited to begging - gangs of “pilgrims” traded in theft, and the most desperate even attacked villages and mercilessly robbed them. Local peasants, in turn, killed everyone they could catch. Bishop Brindisi tried to get rid of the uninvited “crusaders” by placing some of them in some fragile boats - they sank in sight of the city port. The fate of the rest was terrible. The surviving girls were forced, like many of their peers from the first column, to become prostitutes - after another 20 years, visitors were surprised a huge number blondes in brothels in Italy. The boys were even less fortunate - many died of hunger, others actually became powerless slaves, forced to work for a piece of bread.
The inglorious end of the leaders of the campaigns
The fate of the leaders of this campaign was also sad. After the pilgrims were loaded onto ships in Marseilles, the name of Stephen disappears from the chronicles - their authors from that time on know nothing about him. Perhaps fate was merciful to him, and he died on one of the ships that crashed off Sardinia. But perhaps he had to endure the shock and humiliation of the North African slave markets. Did his psyche withstand this test? God knows. In any case, he deserved all this - unlike thousands of children, perhaps unwittingly, but deceived by him. Nicholas disappeared in Genoa: either he died, or, having lost faith, he left his “army” and got lost in the city. Or perhaps the angry pilgrims themselves drove him out. In any case, from that time on he no longer led the crusaders, who so selflessly believed in him both in Cologne and on the way through the Alps. The third, who remained forever nameless, the young leader of the German crusaders, apparently died in the Alpine mountains, never reaching Italy.Afterword
The most amazing thing is that 72 years later, the story of the mass exodus of children was repeated in the unfortunate German city of Hamelin (Hameln). 130 local children then left home and disappeared. It was this incident that became the basis of the famous legend of the Pied Piper. But this mysterious incident will be discussed in the next article.The year 1212 was a great success: there was no rain, the sun was scorching, the entire crop withered on the vine, famine loomed on the threshold, the smell of the apocalypse... As usual in hard times, many prophets appeared, foreshadowing a variety of misfortunes for sinful humanity...
The Church has never expressed its position on the Children's Crusade
Moreover, some holy fathers even deny the very fact of its existence
MILK AND HONEY OF THE POPE
“Everyone who goes there in the event of their death will henceforth receive remission of sins. Let them come out against the infidels in battle, which should yield trophies in abundance... That land flows with honey and milk. He who is sorrowful here will become rich there.” The speech of Pope Urban II made an impression on the listeners. The First Crusade - in the name of liberating Jerusalem from Muslims - took place in 1095. Then there were four more: the infidels were in no hurry to surrender, conquered Palestine had to be held with weapons, and the Holy Sepulcher was not given into the hands of the crusaders. Why? In May 1212, the French shepherd Etienne learned the answer to this question. Jesus appeared to him and said: adults are mired in sins, they are greedy and depraved. The Lord loves the innocent. Therefore, only children can cleanse Jerusalem from infidels. And he - Etienne - will lead them on a campaign...
THROUGH THE MOUTH OF A BABY
Etienne with his vision would not be much different from dozens of other overly exalted personalities, if not for one thing: the boy was barely 12 years old. and therefore they treated his stories with reverence, because it is known: the truth speaks through the mouth of a baby. In addition, the “baby” sincerely imagined himself as God’s messenger, which he told the holy fathers from the Abbey of Saint-Denis in Paris.
Etienne also had quite material evidence of his “chosenness by God”: a letter from Jesus addressed to the king of France. The message contained the same call to liberate Jerusalem with the help of children. Waving this letter, Etienne, accompanied by the monks, peasants, artisans and all sorts of rabble who joined him, rode around the cities and towns and called on the children to go with him - and the children went. “Crusading fever” gripped poor French children - 10-12-year-old boys and girls in simple canvas shirts with crosses sewn on them flocked in crowds after “God’s messenger.” Why didn't their parents stop them? These people, the majority of them poor, had nothing more to hope for except the mercy of God. And although the 12th-century Crusader movement disgraced itself with robbery and military failures, the people still believed that God would be more merciful if they managed to recapture the holy city of Jerusalem. In addition, the priests added fuel to the fire.
The Church did not want to lose either its influence, much less the rich Palestinian lands. But there were fewer and fewer people willing to fight for Jerusalem. Therefore, the “heavy artillery” was used - children. Innocent III stated: “These children serve as a reproach to us adults: while we sleep, they joyfully fight for the Holy Land.” I think this says it all: dad hoped that their parents would follow the children on the crusade, but... King Philip II of France, who, by the way, never received Jesus’ letter, quickly figured out the situation and issued a decree prohibiting the organization any hikes. The monarch was unable to stop the children: the movement had become widespread, and besides, it was dangerous to quarrel with the pope directly...
About 30 thousand children, led by Etienne, walked through Tours, Lyon and other French cities, feeding on alms. And here in front of them is the port of Marseille. “God’s messenger* repeatedly repeated to them the words allegedly spoken by Jesus: “At the command of God, the Mediterranean Sea will part before you, and you will walk along the dry bottom, like the biblical hero Moses, and take away the “holy tomb” from the infidels.” The children stopped by the sea, sang religious hymns and fervently prayed to the Lord. But the miracle did not happen: the sea did not even think of parting. After two weeks, during which, by the way, Etienne disappeared without a trace, fate smiled on the young crusaders, who were already ready to doubt their faith. Some merchants - Hugo Ferrius and William Porcus - offered their services to the children: they say, here are beautiful ships for you, for the sake of a charitable cause we are ready to provide them free of charge, that is, seven wonderful, large, strong ships for free! For free! They rejoiced at the miracle and fearlessly went onto the decks. Not far from the coast of Sardinia, near the island of St. Peter (how symbolic!), the ships were caught in a storm. Two ships, along with all the passengers, sank, but the remaining five landed on the shores. Not Palestine, but Egypt, where enterprising businessmen Hugo and William sold the young crusaders into slavery. No one returned home... However, this is not the whole story.
APPEARANCE OF THE CROSS
In the same May 1212, the German youth Nicholas also had a vision: he saw a cross in the sky and heard the Divine order to gather children and move to Jerusalem. An order is an order, and besides, the holy fathers did a great job on Nicholas’s “image.” Hitherto unremarkable - perhaps too dreamy - a 10-year-old boy suddenly acquired the abilities of a healer. The blind, deaf and lepers were drawn to him - and Nicholas, according to medieval chroniclers, granted health to all of them; it was impossible not to fall under his charm. As a result, thousands of children rushed after him to Jerusalem.
The starting point of the German children's crusade was Cologne - one of the main religious centers of the then Germany. The German barons strongly opposed this idea, but the country was then ruled by a young king - 17-year-old Frederick II of Hohenstauffen. owes his throne to the Pope. Formally, he banned the campaign, but after his ban the movement began to acquire a mass character. Even 5-6 year old children went to fight for the Holy Sepulcher! These kids had a harder time than their French associates: at least they walked through their own territory, along the roads of France. The Alps stood in the way of German children. Of course, you can go around them, but it will take some time. But you can’t hesitate! The Holy Sepulcher is in danger - this idea was instilled in the children by the holy fathers who accompanied them (read - led them) on the campaign. And thousands of children went to the mountains - to the sounds of fanfare and trumpets, singing religious hymns written especially for them. Very soon hunger became their constant companion, and then their killer. The dead were not buried - they were left lying on the ground without even reading a prayer: there was no strength for this. Of the 40 thousand children who began crossing the Alps, only one in four came to Italy...
On August 25, 1212, exhausted German children found themselves on the Genoese coast - waiting for the sea to part. This was promised to them, but - alas - it did not come true. And then - what a strange coincidence! - Nicholas disappeared. The ruler of Genoa hastened to drive the uncontrollable crowd out of his city - only these German beggars were not enough for him!
The children scattered all over Italy. Only a few of them reached the city of Brindisi. The sight of the ragged and hungry children was so pathetic that the local authorities, led by the bishop, opposed the continuation of the campaign. The children had to return home. The return journey destroyed almost the entire remainder of this children's army. The corpses of children lay along the roads for a long time - no one even thought of interring them...
Some of the boys - apparently the most stubborn - headed from Brindisi to Rome to ask the pope to release them from the vow of the cross. And Innocent III had mercy: he gave a reprieve until he came of age...
Both the French and German children's crusades are clearly tailored to the same scenario. Who is the author of this “custom production”? Of course, no one will name names now, and there is no need to: it is clear that everything happened with the tacit consent of the pope. All Crusades were carried out at the behest of the head of the Roman Catholic Church, who was interested in spreading Catholicism as widely as possible. This one for children was no exception. It is clear that they simply took advantage of the gullibility of naive boys and girls. Even their leaders - both Etienne and Nicholas - most likely were only weak-willed puppets in capable hands. It seems that they themselves sincerely believed in their chosenness. They believed that all the trials that befell the young crusaders were not in vain. They set out to liberate the Holy City and were ready to suffer: since Jesus suffered, why shouldn’t they drink the cup of sorrows to the dregs? After all, then - in the Kingdom of God - they will be forgiven of all their sins and happiness will finally come...
The Story of the Children's Crusade.
The Children's Crusade is one of the saddest episodes of the Middle Ages. For many centuries they preferred not to remember about it due to the complete failure of this venture. That is why not much information about this event has reached us.
By the time the unusual Crusade began, the children were have already been carried out 4 campaign of the Crusade army. However, despite the successes of the first wars, 1187 Jerusalem was again captured by Muslims. Later, the Third and Fourth Campaigns followed, but the long-awaited goal, the liberation of Jerusalem, was not achieved.
In general, the situation on the eve of the Crusade predisposed children to the start of something similar. At that time, people doubted the idea of the Crusades. The reason for this was the consequences 4- th Crusade. If previous 3 were aimed exclusively at the liberation of believing brothers from the oppression of Muslims, this campaign had a pronounced predatory character. Having reached Constantinople, the crusaders, under the influence of Venice, refused to liberate the Holy Sepulcher. Instead, they captured the capital of the Byzantine Empire and established several states on its former territory. Needless to say, no one was going to go to Jerusalem.
Such a sad result served as a powerful argument in favor of the idea that sinful adults cannot achieve the long-awaited goal - the liberation of the Holy Land. And in 1212 year this resulted in what would later be called Children's Crusade. So, this is the year of the French shepherd, 13 year old Stefan, announced that the Savior himself appeared to him in a dream in the form of a monk and ordered him to gather a new army of the Cross. He argued that they would not need weapons to win, that they would defeat the enemy with words and shouts, just as the Jews captured Jericho in their time.
This young preacher quickly gained popularity. Despite his age, he was convincing in his speeches and confirmed them with miracles that he performed in the presence of a large crowd. And given his young age, it is very unlikely that this was the trick of a fraudster.
He preached throughout France, gathering more and more supporters. However, there were many opponents. The parents of the young enthusiasts were categorically against their children's participation and tried to convince them to stay. Soon the king of France himself intervened, ordering everyone to go home, which did not have an effect on everyone. Perhaps everything was complicated by the fact that the teenagers wanted to avenge the death of their fathers and grandfathers who had fallen in previous campaigns.
In any case, the movement gained popularity, and after the completion of the journey, Stefan led 30 thousand army of children, gathered in a small town Vendôme. Although calling it for children would still be a slight exaggeration, because the bulk of the participants were teenagers and young men. Among others there were also monks, girls in disguise and a small number of adult commoners.
And this was not the only army of the Cross that came out to liberate Jerusalem. In Germany, a similar army numbering Led 20 thousand people 10- Stefan's summer supporter Nicholas.
The two armies took different paths. The French went to the south of France to the port city of Marseille, where, according to Stephen, the sea was supposed to part before the Army of the Cross, and they would go overland to Jerusalem. Along the way, the young crusaders faced many hardships: hunger, disease, and numerous attacks. And walking several hundred kilometers was a severe test for the Cross Army. Many returned home.
Upon arrival in Marseille, the crusaders encountered a new obstacle - the sea, which, as expected, did not part before them. Days passed in prayer, after which 2 The merchant decided to help them. Their names were Hugo Ferreus and Guillaume Porcus. They provided 7 ships. Each of them was designed for 700 Human.
After their departure, the trace of the crusaders was lost. A few years later, it became known that the above-mentioned traders conspired with slave traders and sent the children not to Syria, but to Algeria or Egypt (different sources say differently). It is also known that 2
The ship sank during a storm. As for those slave traders, they ended their lives on the scaffold. Still moving forward theory that Frederick II when signing a peace treaty with Sultan Alkamil managed to return the pilgrims home.
The fate of the German army was no less sad. Their path was even more harsh than that of the French. The crossing of the Alps was especially difficult for them. Next, they were faced with a very unfriendly attitude from the locals, who could not forget the plunder of Italy by Frederick Barbarossa.
What happened after the crusaders reached the city of Brindisi history gives 2 answers. According to one version, the local bishop was able to stop the hike, and the children went back. Most did not survive it. And those few who survived so much torment faced shame and humiliation. They say that Nicholas did not share the fate of his army, and in 1219 took part in the Battle of Damietta. According to another version, the same bishop, at his own expense, hired and supplied 2 ship for pilgrims. Along the way, they drowned along with their leader.
It should be said right away that the Children's Crusade that took place in 1212 is doubtful among many modern historians. That is, there was no children’s campaign, and even in two waves. The legend about the children was invented by chroniclers to please the Catholic Church. She needed a sacrificial ritual, and innocent children's souls sacrificed themselves for the sake of Christianity. But only on paper, and in real life nothing of the kind happened.
This conclusion of medieval experts is based on the fact that there are no more than 50 sources describing such a remarkable historical event. Moreover, all these sources are extremely short, from a few sentences to half a page.
Experts in medieval history divided all available information into 3 groups. The first group included texts written before 1220. The second group included sources dating from 1220-1250. They could have been written by authors who were alive during the children's campaign and put their memories on paper. The third group included texts written after 1250. This was already information obtained from second and third hands.
Modern historians do not consider sources after 1250 authoritative. The most plausible information can be considered that given before 1250, but not all of it. The most plausible texts number no more than 20. Moreover, these are small handwritten passages that provide generalized information. But there is no fundamental work with a chronologically detailed list of those distant events.
However, the authenticity of the Children's Crusade has been pointed out by many authorities. These are the Dominican monk Vincent Beauvais (1190-1264), who created the encyclopedia of the Middle Ages, the philosopher and Franciscan monk Roger Bacon (1219-1292), the Catholic writer Thomas Cantimpre (1201-1272), the English chronicler Matthew Paris (1200-1259). The significance of these people in history is enormous, and their authority is in no way inferior to the authority of modern professors from reputable universities. Therefore, let’s reduce the amount of doubt and get acquainted with those distant events that happened in 1212.
In the early spring of 1212, a 9-year-old boy, who went down in history as Nicholas of Cologne, stated that Jesus appeared to him in a dream and ordered him to lead his children to the Holy Land to liberate Jerusalem. The boy said that you need to go to Italy, approach the sea, and it will part. Along the bottom of the sea, the children will reach Palestine, and there the Muslims, having seen such a miracle, will convert to Christianity.
Nicholas immediately had associates. They went across the lands of Germany, calling children and teenagers to a crusade. A few weeks later a large crowd of young men and women gathered in Cologne. In total there were about 25 thousand children. They all moved to Italy along 2 roads through the Alps. Two of the three died along the way, and some were frightened by the difficulties and turned home. At the end of August, only 7 thousand people arrived in Genoa.
They all headed to the harbor and began to wait for the sea waters to part and the bottom to be exposed. However, nothing of the kind happened, and the children were deeply disappointed. Some of them began to accuse Nicholas of betrayal, but others stood up for him.
Meanwhile, the Genoese authorities, impressed by the religious impulse of the children, offered them citizenship. Most of the child crusaders took advantage of this offer, but Nicholas refused. With a small group of companions, he headed to Pisa, where he met with Pope Innocent III.
The Pontiff freed the children who came to him from their vow of crusade and asked them to return home to their families. After this, the young men and women went to Germany the same way they came. This time Nicholas did not survive the crossing of the Alps and died. And his father was arrested in Germany and hanged at the request of the parents of the children who died during the campaign.
But the Children's Crusade did not end there, as there was a second wave that originated in France. This time the initiator was 12-year-old shepherd Stefan from Kroyes. In May 1212, he claimed that Jesus appeared to him in the garb of a poor man. He ordered Stephen to lead the children to Jerusalem and free it from the Muslims. Jesus said that the adult crusaders are selfish and evil people, and therefore God does not give them victory. Only sinless children, without any weapons, will be able to return the Holy Sepulcher to Christians.
Very soon at least 30 thousand young men and women gathered near Stefan. The French King Philip II learned about this mass of religiously minded young people. He ordered Stephen to be brought to him, and he appeared accompanied by several associates. The king talked to the boy and refused to take him seriously. But Stephen continued to preach, traveling throughout France. And although the church was skeptical of the young preacher, he impressed many French with his teaching.
While Stephen was preaching, only half of the 30 thousand like-minded people remained. The rest went home. With the remaining 15 thousand, the young organizer of the crusade at the end of June 1212 went to Marseille. A huge crowd of children walked along dusty medieval roads and begged for alms. Many could not stand the hardships, hunger, and other hardships of the journey and returned home. Only a quarter of the Children's Crusade participants reached Marseille.
The young crusaders came to the port and began to wait for the sea to part so that they could walk along the bottom without getting their feet wet. But the waters did not part, and the children standing on the shore experienced a feeling of deep disappointment. Most of them turned back and returned to their families. But the merchants loaded the rest onto ships, and further fate of these young creatures is unknown. It is believed that they were transported to Algeria, where they were sold into slavery.
Thus ended the Children's Crusade. It consisted of 2 waves. One of them originated in Germany, and the second in France. In both cases, there were boys present - Nicholas and Stephen, to whom Christ allegedly appeared and ordered to go to the Holy Land to liberate Jerusalem. Nicholas died, and the fate of Stefan after the arrival of the young crusaders in Marseille is covered in darkness. Whether these events are true or fiction is still unknown. And therefore you just need to take note of them and not unconditionally believe in all of the above..
