PRESENTATION OUTLINE
The Children's Crusade was the only "unofficial Crusade," because Pope Innocent ||| never summoned it.
The Children's Crusade began in 1212 when a peasant boy, Stephen of Cloyes, who was only twelve, claimed Christ had approached him while the boy was tending to his sheep and had told him to regain the Holy Land from the Muslims.
Stephen succeeded in gathering approximately 30,000 children and traveled to Paris to deliver the message from Christ to King Philip || who told all of the children to go home.
At the same time as Stephen, a boy from Germany, Nicholas, gathered 50,000 children. These "crusaders" travelled from Germany to Italy across the Alps, and are said to have met the pope in Rome. The pope praised the children for their bravery, but also told them that they were too young to undertake such a venture and to go home.
Some children went home while others loaded boats to travel to Jerusalem where they disappeared and were never seen again.
Nicholas' dad, was hanged by angry parents of lost children for encouraging the Crusade.
In conclusion, the Children's Crusade was a failure. None of the combined 80,000 children reached the Holy Land and very few returned home.
Most perished during the journey either on land or sea, but many were captured and sold into slavery.
