by Jillian Mccutcheon

Created on: June 12, 2009

In 1212 a young shepherd marched up to the King of France to tell him of a miracle. The boy's name was Stephen and he told King Philip that he had been visited by Christ while tending his flock. Jesus presented the boy a letter in which he told Stephen of Cloyes to go out and preach the crusades. Stephen went on to tell how an army of children would succeed where adults had failed. The children would march and recapture the Holy Land for Christianity. Stephen insisted that, because they were innocent children, God would protect them and part any waters they had to cross on their journey as he had done for Moses.

This was the start of what would come to be known as The Children's Crusade which took place after the fourth crusade. King Philip dismissed the boy telling him to come back when he was older. Stephen of Cloyes was not put off; instead his enthusiasm grew and he began to preach right away. He was a gifted speaker and he quickly amassed a large group of followers which in turn went out to preach for Stephen as the disciples had done for Jesus. Within a months time an army of children had gathered at Vendome to begin their trek east.

The fact that they were children was the beginning of their downfall. Only Stephen of Cloyes and boys of noble birth that could afford horses traveled in comfort. The rest of the children began to fall to weather conditions and exhaustion as the walk across France and down into Spain proved to be too much. A drought came with the extremely hot summer and the children depended on charity for food. Many fell to starvation since there was little to spare. When the crusade reached Marseilles the children stood at the seaside and waited for the miracle Stephen had promised. Many children went home or dropped out when the sea didn't part as promised but there were still thousands that stayed.

Two merchants decided to help the children and offered them free passage across the sea. Stephen graciously accepted and the children were loaded onto seven ships and never heard from again. The prevailing story from this point comes from a priest that found his way back to France. In his story he revealed that the children's ships ran into a horrific storm. Two ships sank and all on board drowned. The remaining five ships ended up off the coast of Africa. Here the children were captured and sold into slavery. There are varying stories as to where they were sold and whether the merchants had a part in selling the children.

Soon after Stephen

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