Free The Little Book of the End of the World by Ken Mooney Page B

it reacted with other nations, leading to increased hostility with the neighbouring – and mostly Muslim – Byzantine Empire.
    The Crusades arose from a European need to see Jerusalem freed from the oppression and ownership of the Byzantine Empire, assuring access for Christian pilgrims. The Crusades may also have been, simply, an ideological war between Christianity and the growing faith of Islam.
    The Crusades lasted for nearly 200 years, with different countries leading the charge under different leaders and regimes: it’s safe to say that over that period, motivations shifted significantly, with different causes coming to the fore at any given time.
    There were nine Crusades undertaken by the Holy Roman Empire between 1095 and 1272, but not all of these involved every major state. There were also several other incursions undertaken by individual countries or noblemen, with even more were organised by faithful laypeople who were not affiliated with government, Church or monarchy.
    The Crusades provide a small taster of the atrocities and difficulties in any holy war, and perhaps a snapshot of what could happen during the End of Days.
    The People’s Crusade of 1096 is notable because of the involvement of many laypeople and pilgrims from throughout Europe. The numbers involved make this one of the largest disasters and losses of life during the Crusades, with Crusaders responsible for the deaths of thousands of Jews across Europe and, in turn, many of these Crusaders slaughtered by the more experienced Turkish soldiers.
    What is notable about the People’s Crusade is the anger and violence directed towards Jewish communities in Europe. As calls for Crusaders spread around Europe, the faithful directed their persecution towards the Jewish communities around the Rhineland in Germany. This violence led to the destruction of whole cities which had become Jewish settlements, and was, unfortunately, not the first time that this type of violence had been directed at the Jewish people.
    Despite the numbers of Jews killed in their own homes and communities, there are many stories throughout Europe that try to elicit sympathy for the Crusaders themselves; even as they pillaged and invaded other countries, the Crusaders were portrayed as righteous and doing God’s bidding. Perhaps the most interesting of these stories is the Children’s Crusade, a Crusade that may not have even existed.
    The stories of the Children’s Crusade revolve around a group of faithful children who took it upon themselves to travel to the Holy Land, and the story is made all the more brutal by suggesting that most of these children fell to slavery, famine and the swords of the Byzantine Empire. The Children’s Crusade supposedly began when a child prophet professed to receiving a message from Jesus and subsequently convinced his followers to travel with him to Jerusalem. The child even claimed that the Mediterranean Sea would part before them, meaning they did not need passage across the water.
    In actual fact, this version of the Children’s Crusade appears to be a combination of two separate stories:

      Stephan of Cloyes was a French shepherd boy who gathered a group of followers and claimed to have received a message from Jesus to be delivered to Philip II, the King of France. Stephan’s pilgrimage to the king gradually gathered him followers, most of whom were vagabonds and beggars. However, the king refused an audience with Stephan and his followers quickly dispersed.

      Nicholas of Cologne tried to encourage a Children’s Crusade but never actually left the European mainland. Travelling from Germany, Nicholas gathered an impressive bunch of followers, many of whom passed away while they crossed the Alps. When they reached the Mediterranean, they found that the seas did not part before them as Nicholas had promised. Disappointed, most of them returned home, with some of the pilgrims settling locally in Genoa. Nicholas himself decided to