The Children's Crusade
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It was the age of miracles – anything was possible. Kings ignored the Children; so did popes and bishops. The handful of Church chroniclers who wrote about them were usually disparaging. They were delusional, they were inspired not by God, but the Devil. Their crusade was doomed from the start.
None of them reached Outremer, the Holy Land. They turned back, exhausted. Some fell ill on the way; others died. Others still were probably sold into slavery to the Saracens – the very Muslims who had taken Jerusalem in the first place.
We only know of three of them by name – Stephen, Nicholas and Otto. One of them was a shepherd, another a ploughboy, the third a scholar. The oldest was probably fourteen. Today, in a world where nobody believes in miracles, the Children of 1212 have almost been forgotten.
Almost… but not quite…
The poet Robert Browning caught the mood in his haunting poem, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, bringing to later readers the sad image of a lost generation, wandering a road to who knew where.
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M J Trow (the 'M' as most people know by now stands for Meirion, a Welsh name few can manage, so he writes as M J, is known by all and sundry as Mei, rhyming with 'my') has been writing for many years, with his first book - The Adventures of Inspector Lestrade - being published in 1984 by Macmillan. More Lestrades followed and then some true crime and somehow it all snowballed so now he has many historical biographies and three other crime series (Maxwell, Marlowe and Grand and Batchelor, the latter two written with his wife, writing as Maryanne Coleman, though her name is Carol, actually!) to his credit. He claims to be retired, but that's just from teaching. In fact he has never been busier and is a sought after 'ghost' these days as well as historian and novelist, with many different subjects' stories having been told through him. He has recently started collaborating on fiction projects (with someone other than his wife, that is) and finds it a really exciting and pleasurable experience.
To relax he ... actually, that's a bit tricky, as he doesn't really ever relax. He has been known to garden, he is a keen cook and artist and likes to travel. This is rather easier these days as he is a popular speaker on cruise ships - in fact his profile picture was taken on a very gusty day in Cape Town, setting off on a long voyage home to Southampton through some of the scariest seas he and his wife have had the pleasure to meet! It really was the calm before the storm, despite being a Force 9 just leaving the Bay.
Family is important and he is very proud of his wife, Carol (aka Maryanne Coleman) for her own books and also the ones they write together, the Kit Marlowe series. His son, Taliesin, known as Tali, is a writer who has written a biography of the Tudor explorer Martin Frobisher as well as collaborating with Mei on several biographies. An exciting series is in the melting pot at the moment and will hopefully be appearing soon; remember where you heard it first. Tali is also a musician, playing various instruments with some acclaimed bands; Gemma Hayes, the Coal Porters, Circulus and currently acid-folk ensemble The Lords of Thyme. He also records and tour-manages. His crystal vocals enhance everything he does and it's just as well someone in the family can sing, as it is the first thing anyone asks a Welshman!
