3. Origins
• The children’s crusade took place in 1212 AD.
• This originated with Nicholas of Cologne, a
shepherd from Rhineland , Germany.
• He claimed that he had been visited by Jesus
Christ, who had told him to lead a Crusade to
Jerusalem, and convert the Muslims to Christianity
peacefully.
• After a series of supposed miracles and a
campaign of travelling around Germany and
France, he gathered great following.
• They set off on their mission, with great belief that
they would succeed.
5. The Journey
• They marched along the Rhine, through
Mainz, Speyer and then into the Alps. Many
(about two-thirds) died on the way from
hunger, disease and exposure, as they
picked their way through the mountains, via
the Brenner pass.
• 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.
6. The Result
• Disheartened, many of the children turned back.
• Two merchants (Hugh Ferreus and William Porcus)
gave free passage on boats to thousands of
children, but they were actually either taken to
Tunisia and sold into slavery by the cruel
merchants, or died in a shipwreck off Sardinia during
a gale.
• Some of the children reached Rome, where they
were pitied by the Pope and given citizenship.
• Few of those who turned back returned to their
families, the rest died along the way.
• Nicholas’s father was arrested and hanged under
pressure from parents who had lost their children.
