expeditions of children who went to fight in the Crusades to capture the Holy Land in 1212. There were two main expeditions: one from Germany and one from France. A shepherd boy named Stephen had appeared in France and had induced thousands to follow his guidance, while in Germany a child named Nicolas gathered some 20,000 young crusaders and set off over the Alps for Italy. Stephen's army was kidnapped by slave-dealers and sold into Egypt; out of Nicolas's expedition, only a few reached Genoa and RomeNthe rest disappeared, many having drowned in the Mediterranean. All told, the Child's Crusade involved 50,000 children, and the vast majority never returned. See also Crusades.—5th ACC Vol 2 Glossary (Final Approval 7/12/89), Editor, from Encyclopedia Britannica and Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable