The Boy Crusaders: A Story of the Days of Louis IX.

The narrative follows two young trainees at a feudal castle who assume the cross and join a crusading expedition led by a devout monarch, tracing their voyage to the East, service at Cyprus, and participation in the siege of Damietta. It moves through raids and skirmishes, the carnage at Mansourah and the massacre at Minieh, the sovereign's capture and imprisonment, and later missions that reach Baghdad, before describing their homeward voyage and a concluding royal reception. Interwoven are depictions of chivalric training, battlefield hardship, piety, and the moral ambiguities of armed pilgrimage.