The Children's Crusade refers to several popular movements in France and Germany in the year 1212.

The traditional story tells of two separate movements, one led by a French shepherd boy named Stephen of Cloyes, and another by a German boy named Nicholas of Cologne.

According to legend, thousands of children joined these movements, believing their innocence would allow them to peacefully convert Muslims and reclaim the Holy Land.

The legends often include stories of the children marching to the sea, expecting it to part for them.

The historical reality is more complex and less certain, as the primary sources are brief and often contradictory.

Modern historians believe the movements were not primarily of children, but were unauthorized pilgrimages of the 'pauperes'—the wandering rural and urban poor of all ages.

These movements reflected the intense popular piety and social dislocation of the time.

The outcomes were disastrous; many participants died of starvation and hardship along the journey.

Some were said to have reached ports in Italy, where merchants tricked them and sold them into slavery in North Africa.

The 'Children's Crusade' remains a powerful, though largely legendary, story of misguided faith.