The Green Children of Woolpit
The green-skinned youths who spoke an unknown language
It was the time of the “Anarchy”, the English civil war of the 12th century. Empress Matilda and Stephen of Blois had fought over the English throne for nineteen years. During these times of trouble, a rather peculiar situation would take place in England. Ralph of Coggeshall, a sixth abbot, described green children arriving in the village of Woolpit. Decades later, the monk and historian William of Newburgh would also recount the same story.
Historians would use these two reports to create the full narrative of the green children in Woolpit. Whether the story is true or false, nobody knows. But it has intrigued listeners ever since the 12th century.
The green-skinned children
During the 12th century, the village of Woolpit was an agriculturally productive and densely populated part of rural England. One day, Woolpit’s villagers saw two children, a boy and a girl, emerging from the wolf-trapping pits. They had green skin, spoke an unknown language, and were dressed in strange clothing. Both children, who were later discovered to be siblings…
