Author(s): GülÅen Ä°STEK*
Many children in German and French geography in the 13th century began a crusade to Jerusalem. The aim of this crusade was freedom of Jerusalem from Muslims domination. The crusade spirit against Muslims was tried to be kept alive in Europe, so it was thought that the unifying power of the Papal institution would not be damaged. Under the leadership of the Pope, religious representatives of organizations such as the German priests and the Order of the German Knight, visited all the churches and monasteries in the German geography and mentioned the importance of a Crusade. They stated that they needed both military and financial assistance for an army to be established. These children, as well as adults, gave importance to these calls. These children, combined with the leadership of Nikolaus in Cologne, Germany and Stephan in France, have taken action to free the Jerusalem and the Holy Sepulcher from the hands of Muslims. Most of these children, who do not even know how to fight, have suffered from hunger and fatigue on the way and some of them are drowned in the sea. Those left behind fell into the hands of captive merchants and sold as slaves in Egypt and Baghdad. Children's Crusaders, one of the issues discussed in the history of Europe, were not owned by church and political administrators in their time, and even in some regions they were confronted with the Papacy. Therefore, this situation is important in terms of giving a new perspective to the Crusades and showing who has a role in the massacre. In this study, German works were used and this information was compared with a French book and a wide perspective was tried to be revealed. In addition, whether or not the aforementioned expedition existed, how it emerged in the German and French geography, the routes followed to reach Jerusalem, the attitudes of the religious and local authorities and issues such as whether the operation succeeded or not, were investigated by taking into consideration the place, time and person elements
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