To Saint Denys, therefore, he walked to see the king. And at the sepulcher of martyred Dionysius, garbed as though he were yet in the field near Cloyes, crook in hand, this child apostle spoke of suffering in Jerusalem, Christians enslaved. Many who listened thought they could hear groans, cries for help, clanking chains. He pointed to the shrine of Dionysius thronged with pilgrims and compared it to the tomb of Jesus vilified by Saracens. He likened Jesus to a banished king, Jerusalem to a captive queen. He spoke of a dream in which the sea rolled apart for him and for those who followed him. He displayed the letter to King Philip Augustus. He said that one day he was unable to find his sheep because they had left the pasture, but discovered them in a field of grain. He began beating them to drive them out, at which they dropped on their knees to beg forgiveness, and by this sign he knew he was appointed to liberate the Holy City. Documents from those days testify that outside the sepulcher of Dionysius he performed miracles.
If this boy Stephen gained audience with the king has been debated. But it is known that on account of the children Philip Augustus consulted his advisors and learned men at the University of Paris, after which he ordered the children to disperse. They refused. Instead, like thistle on the breeze they gathered at Vendôme, high and low, descending from castles on the mountain, emerging from wretched mud hovels, singing while they marched, holding wax tapers, waving perfumed censers, bringing copies of the red silk Oriflamme with gold flames scattered. And if asked how they would accomplish what grown men could not, they replied that they were equal to the will of God and whatever He might wish for them, that would they humbly and gladly accept.
News of these crusading children got to Germany and Lotharingia quick as a storm. The Benedictine William at his monastery near Guines wrote of it. The monk Reiner at Liège wrote of it. And in Cologne the monk Godfrey wrote that a child called Nicholas began to preach outside the Byzantine cathedral where bones of the Magi rest in a golden casket. They say Archbishop Raynuldus brought back these inestimable relics from the sack of Milan. Whatever the fact, thousands came to worship. Nicholas preached to all who approached, holding up a metal cross in the form of Tau. But he did not preach the slaughter of Muslims, saying the holy word of God would illuminate their lives, would convert them, would cause them to abhor the wicked faith of Mahomet and worship Jesus.
They set forth about the time of Pentecost, according to the annal of Cologne, and left behind their plows and carts, abandoned the animals they pastured. Many took up pilgrim costume, wide-brimmed hat, palmer’s staff, gray coat and a cross sewn to the breast. By repute they numbered twenty thousand. Some leapt or danced like storks prepared to migrate. Thus wrapped in mighty delusion they walked from Cologne to Basle, to Geneva, traversed the Alps near Mount Cenis, by which time half were lost, murdered, starved, frozen, drowned in raging mountain streams, devoured by famished wolves.
In August they reached the gates of Genoa, but three thousand more had disappeared. Nicholas petitioned the Senate, begging hospitality for one night, explaining that the sea would divide next morning as it divided for Moses and they would march on to Jerusalem. His petition was granted. But at dawn the waves broke without remission. Therefore the children marched to Pisa, thinking they had missed their appointment. How many perished on this journey is not known. The Senones chronicle states that two shiploads of children sailed from Pisa to the Holy Land. What became of them is not recorded. Others wandered uncertainly toward Arezzo, Firenze, Perugia. It may be that a few walked to Rome where they met the pontiff. Without doubt some reached the port of Brindisi where a Norwegian called Friso sold the boys into slavery, the girls into brothels. Illi de Brundusio virgines stuprantur. Et in arcum pessimum passim venumdantur.
Concerning Nicholas, one document from those days asserts that he came at length to the Holy Land where he fought bravely at Acre, later at Damietta, returning unharmed. Perhaps. But when the citizens of Cologne learned what happened to their children they hanged his father.
As for Stephen, thirty thousand innocents gathered beneath his standard, a woolen cross affixed to the right shoulder of each. When they set out they were accompanied by animals and birds, overhead a cloud of butterflies, which are bearers of the soul. They leapt and shouted as did the German children, and sang for joy. O Jerusalem! O Jerusalem! Our feet shall stand within thy walls!
Through the fruitful heart of France they marched south to Lyons, beside the Rhône to Valence, Avignon, Marseille. Stephen traveled at his leisure in a chariot fitted with carpets and a decorated canopy protecting him from the August sun. Twelve youths from noble families surrounded him, forming the honor guard, each handsomely mounted, each holding a lance. It is said that while Stephen was a child in years, ten or twelve, he was adept at vice, lecherous, quick to benefit from his role as saint and prophet. If he stood up to address the multitude thousands pressed forward. On such occasions many were trampled or suffocated. Those nearest him would reach out to pluck a thread from his coat, a splinter from the cart, a hair from the mane of the horse that drew him, much as it was with Peter the hermit.
At Marseille they found the sea unyielding. Waves curled and broke, adamant. Now two agents of Satan slipped out of the darkness. William Porcus. Hugo Ferreus. Concerning the first, some have called him a merchant of Marseille
