Children ' s Crusade The Children ' s Crusade is the name given to a disastrous Crusade by European Christians to expel Muslims from the Holy Land said to have taken place in 1212 . The traditional narrative is probably conflated from some factual and mythical notions of the period including visions by a French or German boy , an intention to peacefully convert Muslims in the Holy Land to Christianity , bands of children marching to Italy , and children being sold into slavery . A study published in 1977 casts doubt on the existence of these events , and many historians came to believe that they were not ( or not primarily ) children but multiple bands of " wandering poor " in Germany and France , some of whom tried to reach the Holy Land and others who never intended to do so . Early versions of events , of which there are many variations told over the centuries , are largely apocryphal . Version of events . Traditional accounts . The variants of the long - standing story of the Children ' s Crusade have similar themes . A boy began preaching in either France or Germany claiming that he had been visited by Jesus and told to lead a Crusade to peacefully convert Muslims to Christianity . Through a series of supposed portents and miracles he gained a considerable following , including possibly as many as 30 , 000 children . He led his followers south towards the Mediterranean Sea , in the belief that the sea would part on their arrival , allowing him and his followers to march to Jerusalem , but this did not happen . Two merchants ( Hugh the Iron and William of Posqueres ) gave free passage on boats to as many of the children as were willing , but they were actually either taken to Tunisia and sold into slavery by the cruel merchants , or died in a shipwreck on San Pietro Island off Sardinia during a gale . Some may have failed to reach the sea , dying or giving up from starvation and exhaustion . Nobody knows when it actually happened . Modern accounts . According to more recent research there seem to have actually been two movements of people ( of all ages ) in 1212 in Germany and France . The similarities of the two allowed later chroniclers to combine and embellish the tales . Germany – Nicholas of Cologne . In the first movement , Nicholas , a shepherd from the Rhineland in Germany who possessed an extraordinary eloquence , tried to lead a group across the Alps and into Italy in the early spring of 1212 . Nicholas promised that the sea would dry up before them and allow his followers to cross into the Holy Land . Rather than intending to fight the Saracens , he said that the Muslim kingdoms would be defeated when their citizens converted to Christianity . His disciples went off to preach the call for the " Crusade " across the German lands , and they massed in Cologne after a few weeks . Splitting into two groups , the crowds took different roads through Switzerland . Two out of every three people on this ghastly journey died , while many others returned to their homes . About 7 , 000 arrived in Genoa in late August . They immediately marched to the harbor , expecting the sea to divide before them ; when it did not many became bitterly disappointed . A few accused Nicholas of betraying them , while others settled down to wait for God to change his mind , since they believed that it was unthinkable he would not eventually do so . The Genoese authorities were impressed by the little band , and they offered citizenship to those who wished to settle in their city . Most of the would - be Crusaders took up this opportunity . Nicholas refused to admit defeat and traveled to Pisa , his movement continuing to break up along the way . He and a few loyal followers continued to the Papal States , where Pope Innocent III treated them kindly . The remaining ones departed for Germany after the Pontiff exhorted them to be good and to return home to their families . Nicholas did not survive the second attempt across the Alps ; back home his father was arrested and hanged under pressure from angry families whose relatives had perished while following the child . Some of the most dedicated members of this Crusade were later reported to have wandered to Ancona and Brindisi ; none reached the Holy Land . France – Stephan of Cloyes . The second movement was led by a twelve - year - old French shepherd boy named Stephan of Cloyes , who claimed in June that he bore a letter for the king of France from Jesus . Large gangs of youth around his age were drawn to him , most of whom claimed to possess special gifts of God and thought themselves miracle workers . Attracting a following of over 30 , 000 adults and children , he went to Saint - Denis , where he was seen to cause miracles . On the orders of Philip II , advised by the University of Paris , the people were implored to return home . Philip himself did not appear impressed , especially since his unexpected visitors were led by a mere child , and refused to take them seriously . Stephan , however , was not dissuaded , and began preaching at a nearby abbey . From Saint - Denis , Stephan traveled around France , spreading his messages as he went , promising to lead charges of Christ to Jerusalem . Although the Church was skeptical , many adults were impressed by his teaching . Still , few of those who initially joined him possessed his activeness ; it is estimated that there were less than half the initial 30 , 000 remaining , a figure that was shrinking rapidly , rather than growing as perhaps anticipated . At the end of June 1212 , Stephan led his largely juvenile Crusaders from Vendôme to Marseilles . They survived by begging for food , while the vast majority seem to have been disheartened by the hardship of this journey and returned to their families . Historiography . Sources . According to Peter Raedts , professor in Medieval History at the Radboud University of Nijmegen , there are only about 50 sources from the period that talk about the crusade , ranging from a few sentences to half a page . Raedts categorizes the sources into three types depending on when they were written : Raedts does not consider the sources after 1250 to be authoritative , and of those before 1250 , he considers only about 20 to be authoritative . It is only in the later non - authoritative narratives that a " children ' s crusade " is implied by such authors as Vincent of Beauvais , Roger Bacon , Thomas of Cantimpré , Matthew Paris and many others . Historical studies . Prior to Raedts ' 1977 study , there had only been a few historical publications researching the Children ' s Crusade . The earliest were by Frenchman G . de Janssens ( 1891 ) and German R . Röhricht ( 1876 ) . They analyzed the sources but did not analyze the story . American medievalist Dana Carleton Munro ( 1913 – 14 ) , according to Raedts , provided the best analysis of the sources to date and was the first to significantly provide a convincingly sober account of the Crusade sans legends . Later , J . E . Hansbery ( 1938 – 9 ) published a correction of Munro ' s work , but it has since been discredited as based on an unreliable source . German psychiatrist Justus Hecker ( 1865 ) did give an original interpretation of the crusade , but it was a polemic about " diseased religious emotionalism " that has since been discredited . P . Alphandery ( 1916 ) first published his ideas about the crusade in 1916 in an article , which was later published in book form in 1959 . He considered the crusade to be an expression of the medieval cult of the Innocents , as a sort of sacrificial rite in which the Innocents gave themselves up for the good of Christendom ; however he based his ideas on some of the most untrustworthy sources . Adolf Waas ( 1956 ) saw the Children ' s Crusade as a manifestation of chivalric piety and as a protest against the glorification of the holy war . H . E . Mayer ( 1960 ) further developed Alphandery ' s ideas of the Innocents , saying children were the chosen people of God because they were the poorest ; recognizing the cult of poverty , he said that " the Children ' s Crusade marked both the triumph and the failure of the idea of poverty . " Giovanni Miccoli ( 1961 ) was the first to note that the contemporary sources did not portray the participants as children . It was this recognition that undermined all other interpretations , except perhaps that of Norman Cohn ( 1971 ) who saw it as a chiliastic movement in which the poor tried to escape the misery of their everyday lives . Peter Raedts ' 1977 analysis is considered the best source to date to show the many issues surrounding the Children ' s Crusade . Historians have put the crusade in the context of the role of teenage boys in medieval warfare . Literary scholars have explored its role in the evolution of the tale of the Pied Piper . Popular accounts . Beyond the scientific studies there are many popular versions and theories about the Children ' s Crusades . Norman Zacour in the survey " A History of the Crusades " ( 1962 ) generally follows Munro ' s conclusions , and adds that there was a psychological instability of the age , concluding the Children ' s Crusade " remains one of a series of social explosions , through which medieval men and women — and children too — found release " . Steven Runciman gives an account of the Children ' s Crusade in his " A History of the Crusades " . Raedts notes that " Although he cites Munro ' s article in his notes , his narrative is so wild that even the unsophisticated reader might wonder if he had really understood it . " Donald Spoto , in a book about Saint Francis of Assisi , said monks were motivated to call them children , and not wandering poor , because being poor was considered pious and the Church was embarrassed by its wealth in contrast to the poor . This , according to Spoto , began a literary tradition from which the popular legend of children originated . This idea closely follows H . E . Mayer . In the arts . Many works of art reference the Children ' s Crusade ; this list is focused on works that are set in Middle Ages and focus primarily on a re - telling of the events . For other uses see " Children ' s Crusade ( disambiguation ) " .