# data[].attributes.headline
Byzantine Empire 750 (through the 9th Century

# data[].attributes.subject
Byzantine Empire 750 (through the 9th Century

# data[].attributes.body
Animated crash course in Feudalism

# data[].attributes.body
The Split of the Roman Empire

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learn about the Byzantine Empire during the Middle Ages and Medieval times. Eastern Roman Empire ruled for over 1000 years.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Anna Comnena: Anna Comnena, Byzantine historian and daughter of the emperor Alexius I Comnenus. She is remembered for her Alexiad, a history of the life and reign of her father, which became a valuable source as a pro-Byzantine account of the early Crusades.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Go to this site providing a short biography of Anna Comnena. Fast facts and interesting information about Anna Comnena. Learn about the history of Anna Comnena of England.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Secret History of Anna K: A Byzantine Novel by Greg Olear

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Both peasants and knights joined the Crusades, each with different reasons for going. Some clearly felt that it was the right thing to do and wanted to return Jerusalem to its earlier state, making it safe for Christians to worship there. Others liked the idea of getting rich, finding new lands, and adventuring.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Byzantine Empire: Justinian and Theodora - From Swineherd to Emperor - Extra History - #1

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Europe: The First Crusade - II: Peter the Hermit - Extra History

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Info Print

Cite

Feedback

Share

Children's Crusade, popular religious movement in Europe during the summer of 1212 in which thousands of young people took Crusading vows and set out to recover Jerusalem from the Muslims. Lasting only from May to September, the Children's Crusade lacked official sanction and ended in failure; none of the participants reached the Holy Land. Nevertheless, the religious fervour it excited helped to initiate the Fifth Crusade (1218). It was arguably the first European youth movement.

Controversies

Although it is mentioned in more than 50 chronicles (lists of historical events in chronological order) dating from the 13th century, much about the Children's Crusade remains obscure. Reports in the chronicles often amount to no more than a line or two, and other sources are fragmentary and at times unreliably embellished. As a result, crucial aspects of the Children's Crusade remain controversial. For example, scholars of the period have debated whether the movement was really a Crusade and whether the participants were really young people.

Despite its popular designation, the Children's Crusade was officially never a Crusade. Crusades could come into existence only with papal approval, and Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) never summoned it. These self-proclaimed, unarmed Crusaders voiced their intention to regain Jerusalem and recover the True Cross (a purported relic of the cross on which Jesus was crucified)-which had been lost to the Muslims in the Battle of Ḥaṭṭīn (1187)-but said nothing about how they hoped to achieve their goals. Nevertheless, the pueri (Latin: "boys" or "children")-the term used by 13th-century writers to describe participants in the movement-wore the insignia of the cross (as did all Crusaders) and took the Crusader's vow, which was binding on those who were at least 14 years old. Moreover, the church recognized their vow as valid. This is known because in 1220 Pope Honorius III absolved a "poor student" named Otto from his Crusading vow. Although Honorius does refer to "a multitude of other pueri " who joined the movement, only Otto's papal absolution is recorded. Although a majority of the chronicles that mention the Children's Crusade do so in disapproving terms, all of them refer to it as a Crusade.

Were the pueri really young people? Some scholars, such as the German historian Peter Raedts, have argued that " pueri" in the chronicles and other documents does not signify an age group but instead describes a social class of impoverished landless peasants and day labourers of indeterminate age. In fact, many of the pueri and puelle ("girls") would indeed have belonged to such a social class. Yet, this by no means rules out their youthfulness. The chroniclers emphasized the prevalence of young people in relation to other groups within the Children's Crusade, including urban labourers, mothers, and the elderly. In addition, several chroniclers noted that some parents imprisoned their children in their homes to prevent them from joining. Thus, it seems likely that young people were the most conspicuous element within the Children's Crusade as well as its leaders, though it is also probable that the movement was not composed exclusively of young people.

Origins

Popular movements of religious revivalism like the Children's Crusade usually appeared when official Crusades were preached. Preaching aroused collective enthusiasm, particularly in areas with a long tradition of Crusading, as in the town of Chartres and its surrounding region (the Chartrain) in north-central France. Beginning at the time of the First Crusade in the late 11th century and continuing into the 13th century, successive waves of Crusading fervour swept over this region. During the winter of 1211 and the spring of 1212 the Albigensian Crusade was preached against the heretical Cathars of southern France, resulting in strong military recruitment from the Chartrain. Spain, on Christendom's western frontier, was the scene of another Crusading crisis. A Muslim invasion from North Africa in 1210 led to the fall of the castle of Salvatierra in 1211. A climactic battle was expected by Pentecost in 1212. Pope Innocent III anxiously attempted to mobilize the prayers of Christians on behalf of the threatened Spanish church by holding processions in Rome on May 16, 1212.

It is likely that similar processions were held at Chartres on May 20. In all probability, a shepherd boy, Stephen of Cloyes, and some of his fellow workers took part in them. The enthusiasm generated by these processions gave birth to a popular Crusading movement whose aims were summed up in acclamations shouted out by the pueri: "Lord God, raise up Christendom!" and "Lord God, return to us the True Cross!"

The Crusade

Under Stephen's leadership, the French participants in the Children's Crusade assembled at Saint-Denis, probably during an annual fair known as the Lendit fair (June 8-24). Contemporary estimates of the size of Stephen's following ranged from 15,000 to nearly 30,000. The anonymous chronicler of Laon says that Stephen was instructed by a poor pilgrim-who was actually Jesus-to deliver letters to King Philip II of France. Nothing is revealed about the contents of these letters, if indeed they existed, nor of any meeting with the king. The king, however, ordered the pueri to disperse. Although nothing further is known of Stephen, bands of French pueri may have then headed north and east to the town of Saint-Quentin. At this point the French pueri disappear from the historical record, their whereabouts uncertain, but it is possible that some of them arrived in the German city of Cologne about July 14-18. Contact with the French pueri is the most likely origin of the Children's Crusade in Germany, which began about that time.

Attempting to reach the Holy Land, Nicholas of Cologne led the German pueri southward to Mainz and Speyer. There is reason to suppose that there were French pueri, as well as pueri from the region between France and Germany, among them. Little is known about Nicholas except that he originated from the countryside near Cologne and carried a cross shaped like a T (the tau cross), which was his charismatic emblem. Invoking the biblical Exodus from Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea, they proclaimed that the Mediterranean Sea would part for them, a motif of divine election that implies some degree of identification with the Israelites. Nicholas then led the pueri across the Alps to the Italian cities of Piacenza and Genoa, where, however, they failed to find a ship to take them to the Holy Land. Their ultimate fate remains uncertain; some of them might have traveled by ship to Marseille, while others apparently journeyed to Rome to ask papal officials to nullify or defer their Crusade vows. Of the more than 7,000 pueri who arrived in Genoa, many remained-cheap labour was needed there and in other thriving Italian cities. Thus, what began as a popular Crusade probably ended as a massive labour migration.

According to the chronicles, the Children's Crusade was an utter disaster. Few of the Crusaders returned from their journey; most died of hunger or thirst or were drowned at sea, while others were sold as slaves. The chroniclers' story carried a clear message: God did not will it. Be this as it may, the Children's Crusade did confirm Innocent III's belief that Crusading enthusiasm was far from dead. Less than one year later he summoned the Fifth Crusade.

Despite the extreme brevity of the movement, interest in the Children's Crusade continued through the centuries. It has been depicted in works by authors as diverse as Voltaire, Bertolt Brecht, Agatha Christie, and Kurt Vonnegut, and countless children's books have been written about it. Its evocative themes still delight the literary imagination.

Gary Dickson

date

location

related topics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Children's Crusade, popular religious movement in Europe during the summer of 1212 in which thousands of young people took Crusading vows and set out to recover Jerusalem from the Muslims. Lasting only from May to September, the Children's Crusade lacked official sanction and ended in failure; none

# data[].attributes.headline
Videos and Information about Rome and the Byzantine Empire

# data[].attributes.subject
Videos and Information about Rome and the Byzantine Empire

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Byzantine Empire - Ancient History - HISTORY.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Find out more about the history of Byzantine Empire, including videos, interesting articles, pictures, historical features and more. Get all the facts on HISTORY.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learn about the feudal system during the Middle Ages and Medieval times. Feudalism with lords and manors, serfs and peasants.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Crusades | Timeline, Facts & Summary | HISTORY.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Crusades were a series of religious wars between Christians and Muslims over control of holy sites in the Middle East. In all, eight major Crusade expeditions occurred between 1096 and 1291 A.D. Discover all the facts about the Crusades and the Knights Templar on HISTORY.com.

# data[].attributes.body
What trials unite not only Harry Potter or Frodo Baggins but many of literature's most interesting heroes? And what do ordinary people have in common with these literary heroes? Matthew Winkler takes us step-by-step through the crucial events that make or break a hero.

# data[].attributes.body
The Twelve Steps of Joseph Campbell's "Hero's Journey

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Anna Komnene (aka Anna Comnena, 1083-1153 CE) was the eldest daughter of Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081-1118 CE) and the author of a lengthy biography of her father's reign, the. Although not an impartial history, Anna's position at court, her thorough research of sources and a good measure of pithy observation and insightful opinion have all ensured the Alexiad remains one of the most important and colourful primary sources of Byzantine history.

Early Life

Anna Komnene was born in 1083 CE in the Porphyra, the purple room of the Byzantine royal palace in Constantinople where royal babies were usually born and which was a potent symbol of royal legitimacy. She was the eldest daughter of Alexios I Komnenos and his wife the Empress Irene Doukaina. The emperor had no sons and so, for a time, Anna was the official heir following her betrothal to Constantine Doukas, the son of Michael VII (r. 1071-1078 CE). Constantine was nine years older than Anna and the empress-to-be later wrote of him in the following glowing terms:

[Constantine was] seemingly endowed with a heavenly beauty not of this world, his manifold charms captivated the beholder, in short, anyone who saw him would say, He is like the painter's Cupid (Herrin, 233)

Anna went to live with her future mother-in-law Maria of Alania where she was educated in mathematics, philosophy and medicine. A higher education was not regarded as becoming for a lady at court but Anna pressed ahead anyway and secretly hired Michael of Ephesos to tutor her in the more complex branches of philosophy, examining the works of Aristotle, in particular.

Anna's property was confiscated & she was prohibited from ever entering the royal palace at Constantinople again.

The path of Anna's future changed dramatically in 1087 CE when Alexios had a son, John, who became his chosen heir and the object of Anna's jealous hatred for the rest of her life. When Constantine Doukas died an early death in 1097 CE, Anna, still only 14, wasted no time and married the gifted general Nikephoros Bryennios the Younger. The couple would go on to have four children. She then plotted with her grandmother, Anna Dalassene, to make her new husband the next emperor. This plan failed, largely because Nikephoros remained loyal to the official heir John and stayed away when the rebels prepared to seize control of the palace.

When Alexios died of disease on 15 August 1118 CE, his son John became emperor John II Komnenos (r. 1118-1143 CE). It seems probable that Anna was involved in an assassination attempt aimed at John during their father's funeral, of all places, and within a year John had banished his scheming sister to the monastery of the Virgin Kecharitomene. All of Anna's property was confiscated and she was prohibited from ever entering the royal palace at Constantinople again.

Banishment & the Alexiad

At least Anna's forced seclusion allowed her to write her Alexiad (aka Alexias) history in peace and, with what turned out to be a sentence of 35 years, time was not a problem. The Alexiad was begun c. 1137 (perhaps not coincidentally the year her husband died) and was worked on steadily through the mid-1140s CE. It covers the period of Byzantine history from 1069 to 1118 CE. Principally a tribute to her father and his 37-year reign, the work is the only such book written by a woman in the Middle Ages.

Consisting of 13 books written in Attic Greek, the Alexiad can be broadly divided into the following subject areas:

Books I-III cover the rise of the Komnenos family and justify the clan's seizure of power.

Books IV-IX cover various wars such as those against the Normans, Scyths, Turks and Cumans.

Books X-XI cover the First Crusade (1096-1104 CE) and the 1105 CE Norman invasion of Byzantium.

Books XII-XIII cover more military escapades and such domestic issues as the most infamous church heretics (e.g. the Manicheans and Bogomils).

Anna used and referenced earlier works such as the Chronographia of Michael Psellos (1018 - c. 1082 CE) as well as official reports, treaties, archival records, eye-witness accounts from battles, hearsay, and the speeches and audiences she herself witnessed at court. Thus Anna's description of 11th century CE Byzantium, which covers not only major events but also many physical descriptions and other details such as protocols and clothing, has become an invaluable source for modern historians. Anna was also keen that her work present an objective view of events, although she herself admits the Alexiad is somewhat prejudiced, or at least an incomplete biography of her father, for the following reasons:

And truly when writing this, partly from the nature of history and partly because of the extravagance of the events, I forgot that it was my father's deeds that I was describing. In my desire to make my history free from suspicion, I often treat my father's doings in a cursory way, neither amplifying them nor investing them with sentiment. Would that I had been free and released from this love of my father, in order that I might have, as it were, laid hold upon the rich material and shown the license of my tongue, how much at home it is in noble deeds. But now my zeal is hampered by my natural love, for I should not like to afford the public a suspicion that in my eagerness to speak about my relations I am serving them with fairy tales! Indeed very often I recall my father's successes, but I could have wept my life away in tears when recording and describing the many ills that befell him, and it is not without private lamentation and plaint that I quit the subject. But no elegant rhetoric must mar this part of my history, and therefore I pass lightly over my father's misadventures, as if I were an insensible piece of adamant or stone...let my father's woes be a subject of marvel and lamentation to me alone. (Gregory, 291-2)

Certainly, Anna presents a glowing character portrait of her father whom she saw as 'a fiery whirlwind...radiating beauty, grace and dignity and an unapproachable majesty' (quoted in Norwich, 248). As an example of the rather exaggerated presentation of Alexios' great deeds - by no means an uncommon approach of historians of the period - Anna presents the following account of the emperor, in 1082 CE, defending himself with aplomb against three fierce Latin knights who:

...took long spears in their hands and at full gallop dashed at the Emperor. Amicetas missed the Emperor because his horse swerved a little; the second man's spear the Emperor thrust aside with his sword and then bracing his arm, struck him on the collarbone and severed his arm from his body. Then the third aimed straight at his face, but Alexios being of firm and steadfast mind was not wholly dismayed, but with his quick wit grasped in the flash of an instant the thing to do, and when he saw the blow coming, threw himself backwards on to his horse's tail. Thus the point of the spear only grazed the skin of his face a little and then, hitting against the rim of the helmet, tore the strap under the chin which held it on and knocked it to the ground. After this the Frank rode past the man he thought he had hurled from his horse, but the latter quickly pulled himself up again in his saddle and sat there calmly without having lost a single weapon. And he still clutched his naked sword in his right hand, his face was stained with his own blood, his head was bare, and his ruddy, gleaming hair was streaming over his eyes and worrying him, for his horse in its fright spurned the reins and by its jumping about tossed his curls in disorder over his face; however, he pulled himself together as much as possible and carried on his resistance to his foes. ( ibid, 292)

Other prejudices revealed in the Alexiad include the typical Byzantine feeling of superiority over other cultures, as in this passage which describes the Franks:

[The emperor] heard a report of the approach of innumerable Frankish armies. Now he dreaded their arrival for he knew their irresistible manner of attack, their unstable and mobile character and all the peculiar natural and concomitant characteristics which the Frank retains throughout; and he also knew that they were always agape for money, and seemed to disregard their truces readily for any reason that cropped up. ( ibid, 295)

Still, in amongst the cliches of the dishonourable foreigner, there are more literary and more revealing passages of the times, for example:

And those Frankish soldiers were accompanied by an unarmed host more numerous than the sand or the stars, carrying palms and crosses on their shoulders; women and children, too, came away from their countries. And the sight of them was like many rivers streaming from all sides. ( ibid, 296)

Death & Legacy

Besides her own work, Anna formed and hosted a notable literary circle and, in the tradition of philanthropic empresses and court ladies, she sponsored other scholars such as Eustratius of Nicaea. Anna's Alexiad enjoyed immediate favour and she was recognised in her own lifetime as a scholar of note. Her achievements and contribution to Byzantine history are perhaps best summarised by the oration given at her funeral by George Tornikes:

A woman wiser than men in words, more manly in acts, more firm in plans, more prudent in tests...a woman enriched by three eyes of perception, those of her natural perspicacity, of scientific penetration and of consummate experience (Herrin, 232).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Anna Komnene (aka Anna Comnena, 1083-1153 CE) was the eldest daughter of Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081-1118 CE) and the author of a lengthy biography of her father's reign, the.

# data[].attributes.headline
Empress Theodora and grandson John - Picture

# data[].attributes.subject
Empress Theodora and grandson John - Picture

# data[].attributes.headline
Maria Comnena - Picture Mosaic in Hiagia Sophia

# data[].attributes.subject
Maria Comnena - Picture Mosaic in Hiagia Sophia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learn about the Byzantine Empire during the Middle Ages and Medieval times. Eastern Roman Empire ruled for over 1000 years.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Feudalism Definition & Facts | Study.com