Nicholas of Cologne

Nicholas is a potential PC companion. In order to give any player maximum freedom, his characteristics, virtues, flaws and abilities are largely left undescribed.

Nicholas is a historical character. Most of my research on him comes from Gary Dickson's book The Children's Crusade: Medieval History, Modern Mythistory. Dickson's book is the definitive source for materials about the Children's Crusade. In particular, do not rely on the Wikipedia article on the Crusade, which is based on a single unsound article which Dickson does much to refute.

Nicholas was a villager of the Rhennish countryside around Cologne, not a resident of the city itself. We know almost nothing about him before he became leader of the pueri movement. When the apprentices met him in 1212, he explained that he had a dream in which he was visited by an angel and told to go to Jerusalem. When he awoke, his arms were wrapped around a staff topped by the tau cross. This object became the physical sign of his divine mission and his sanctity.

With thousands of peasants, some as young as six years old, behind him, Nicholas crossed the Alps, going from one abbey to another until he reached the Brenner Pass. That's when he met the Alpine Apprentices, who at first convinced him they were religious students. They helped to rescue a group of pueri who had left the main group and become trapped in the Valley of St. Nerius, and they protected the pueri from an attack by an Infernal wolf and its large pack. In the process, Nicholas witnessed their many acts of magic, and he welcomed them as "child magi," comparing them to the Three Magi whose relics were kept in Cologne.

But neither the magi nor the boy king Frederick, who appeared soon after, would join Nicholas's Crusade. Their refusal prompted a crisis of faith for Nicholas. God's intent seemed so clear to him, but others refused to be a part of it. Nicholas lost his a True Faith.

After separating from the apprentices, Nicholas led the pueri into Italy and the city of Genoa, and finally to the water. But the seas refused to part. Many of the pueri abandoned Nicholas at this point. Those who remained went with him to Rome, where Nicholas hoped to get the Pope's blessing. Instead, Innocent released all the children and minors from their Crusading vows, affirmed the vows of all the adults, and told the children to go home. There are some signs that Innocent was affected by Nicholas's devotion however; in November, Innocent gave one of the greatest sermons of his life, and he invoked the tau cross as a symbol of Christianity, of the elect, and of the Crusading movement.

Nicholas's faith was challenged, but he never gave up. He went south to the port of Brindisi, where Crusaders typically departed for the east. For years he worked there as a simple laborer. Finally, in 1217, the Crusade set sail and Nicholas was on the ship with a force of Italian crusaders led by Cardinal Pelagius of Spain. He arrived in Acre in mid-September. In 1218 he went with the other Crusaders south to the war in Egypt. He fought in the siege of Damietta and spent two years fighting vigorously in Egypt.

In 1219, Nicholas met Francis of Assisi, who came to Egypt to convert the Muslim sultan. Francis, too, wore the tau cross as his symbol, having been inspired to take the symbol by Pope Innocent's sermon. Nicholas accompanied Francis into the Muslim camp and was initially beaten and questioned, but his devotion and Francis's offer to walk into a fire to prove his faith prompted the sultan to treat them with mercy and dignity. But Francis failed to convert them, and he and Nicholas returned to the Crusader camp.

The exact date of Nicholas's return to Europe is uncertain. It could not have happened before 1220 and might be as late as 1221. Having fulfilled his Crusader vows, Nicholas would be free to go where he pleased.

As A Companion: Nicholas's experience in Egypt makes him a classic Crusader knight, with the additional wrinkle of having been a leader of the Children's Crusade in his youth. He might have been knighted for valor or by Cardinal Pelagius, with whom he traveled. He might be a Templar or some other religious knight. His time in Acre and Egypt would allow him to have picked up many skills, from Arabic to Medicine or unusual Lores.

He would make a great adventuring Companion and liaison to Christian authority, with Martial abilities and Leadership. He'd make a good Turb captain. The Templars are well established in Ireland; if Nicholas was a Templar, he would make a great liaison to the local Templar castle. He may have brought some Grogs back with him from Acre and Egypt.

Nicholas's age is uncertain. When met in 1212, he seemed about 16. If that's accurate, then he was 21 when the Crusade left Brindisi in 1217 and no older than 25 when he returned from Egypt. This could be modified a year or two each way.

Nicholas may have regained his True Faith. His tau cross was a Relic which he might have moved from the tip of his staff to the pommel of his sword or an amulet.

Heck, you could take the Knight Companion on p. of the Ars Magica rules, rename it Nicholas of Cologne, and you'd be good to go. The Ars Magica book The Church also has a whole chapter on the Templars and their soldiers.