G. Dickson 
The Children’s Crusade 
Medieval History, Modern Mythistory

The Children’s Crusade was possibly the most extraordinary event in the history of the crusades. The first modern study in English of this popular crusade sheds new light on its history and offers new perspectives on its supposedly dismal outcome. Its richly re-imagined history and mythistory is explored from the thirteenth century to present day.

Table of Content

Introduction (The 60’s) PART I: HISTORY The Pope and the Pueri Birthpangs of the Children’s Crusade On the Road The Sense of an Ending PART II: MYTHISTORY Mythistorical Motifs (Holy Innocents; Jesus at 12, etc.) Eminent Mythistorians Magic, Prophecy, Apocalypticism PART III: MEMORY Later Medieval and Early Modern Writers The Enlightenment and Romantic Medievalism 19th Century Popular Fiction and Children’s Literature 20th Century History and Fiction The Persistence of Social Memory

About the author

GARY DICKSON is a Californian who has lived much of his life in Scotland. A graduate of Stanford and Yale, he received his Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh, where he taught medieval history before becoming an Honorary Fellow. He gave the Wilde Lectures in Natural and Comparative Religion at the University of Oxford and was a Member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. He served on the Editorial Advisory Board of
The Crusades: An Encyclopedia.