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The Waldensians (also called the Vaudois or the Poor of Lyon) were a major heretical movement of the High Middle Ages, founded by Peter Waldo of Lyon in the 1170s. The Waldensians were inspired by the evangelical example of the apostles, and they practiced a rigorous form of poverty, preaching, and biblical translation. The Waldensians were initially tolerated by the local clergy, and Peter Waldo even received the approval of the archbishop of Lyon for his preaching, but the movement was eventually condemned by the Third Lateran Council in 1179. The Waldensians survived the persecution of the medieval Church by retreating to the remote valleys of the Alps, where they established communities that preserved their distinctive tradition for centuries.
The standard English-language treatment is Euan Cameron, “The Reformation of the Heretics: The Waldenses of the Alps, 1480–1580” (Oxford, 1984). The earlier medieval period is treated in the older work of George Hamilton, The Waldensian Saints of the French and Italian Alps, and in the primary sources collected in the Historia Valdensium (the medieval Waldensian chronicle).
Peter Waldo and the Founding of the Movement
Peter Waldo (c. 1140–c. 1218) was a wealthy merchant of Lyon who, after a dramatic conversion, gave away his property and began to preach the Gospel in the vernacular. The conversion of Waldo is said to have been triggered by the sudden death of a friend during a feast, an event that prompted Waldo to reflect on the brevity of life and the importance of salvation. Waldo commissioned two priests to translate the Gospels and other biblical texts into the vernacular, and he distributed the translations to the poor and illiterate of the city. Waldo and his followers began to preach in the streets and markets of Lyon, and they attracted a wide following among the poor and the middle class of the city.
The Waldensian movement was initially tolerated by the local clergy, and Waldo even received the approval of the archbishop of Lyon, Guichard of Pontigny, for his preaching. The archbishop allowed Waldo to continue his preaching, provided that he did not presume to preach in the parish churches and that he did not interfere with the parish clergy. The Waldensian movement expanded rapidly in the 1170s and early 1180s, with Waldensian preachers traveling to northern Italy, southern France, and other parts of Europe.
The Doctrines of the Waldensians
The Waldensian doctrine was based on a simple return to the Gospel and the apostolic life. The Waldensians rejected the wealth and the worldliness of the institutional Church, and they practiced a rigorous form of evangelical poverty. The Waldensians believed in the right of the laity to preach the Gospel, and they translated the Bible and other religious texts into the vernacular. The Waldensians also rejected certain practices of the institutional Church — the veneration of saints and relics, the prayers for the dead, the swearing of oaths — and they practiced a simpler form of worship than the institutional Church.
The Waldensian doctrine was less radical than the Cathar doctrine in several respects. The Waldensians did not reject the material world as the creation of an evil principle, and they did not develop a dualist cosmology. The Waldensians also did not reject the institution of the Church altogether; they rejected the corruption of the Church and advocated for its reform, but they did not advocate for its abolition. The Waldensian offense was more practical than doctrinal: they preached without authorization, they translated the Bible into the vernacular, and they practiced a form of evangelical poverty that was a criticism of the wealth of the institutional Church.
The Condemnation of the Movement
The Waldensian movement was eventually condemned by the Third Lateran Council in 1179. The Council declared that the Waldensians were preaching without authorization from the Church, and it forbade the laity from preaching the Gospel without the permission of the bishop. The Waldensians were given a choice between recantation and excommunication, and most chose to continue in their beliefs and to accept the consequences.
The Waldensians survived the persecution of the medieval Church by retreating to the remote valleys of the Alps — the Piedmont region of northern Italy and the French Alps — where they established communities that preserved their distinctive tradition of biblical translation, lay preaching, and evangelical poverty for centuries. The Waldensian communities in the Alps maintained contact with each other through a network of mountains passes and paths, and they sent missionaries and pastors to minister to the scattered Waldensian communities across Europe.
The Waldensians and the Inquisition
The Waldensians were persecuted by the medieval Inquisition along with the Cathars and the other heretical movements of the period. The Waldensians were accused of preaching without authorization, of translating the Bible into the vernacular, and of practicing evangelical poverty in defiance of the Church. The Waldensians were arrested, tortured, and executed in various parts of Europe, and the Inquisition targeted the Waldensian communities in the Alps with special vigor.
The persecution of the Waldensians continued throughout the late medieval and early modern periods, and the Waldensian communities in the Alps were subjected to repeated waves of persecution in the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries. The persecution reached a climax in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when the Waldensian communities were massacred by Catholic forces in the Piedmont region in 1655 and 1694. The massacres provoked international outrage and contributed to the decline of persecution in Europe.
The Survival of the Waldensians
The Waldensian communities in the Alps survived the persecution of the medieval and early modern periods, and they eventually merged with the Reformed tradition of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century. The Waldensian pastor Martin Luther had contact with the Waldensian communities in the 1520s, and the Waldensians adopted the Reformed theology of Calvin and the Reformed church polity of the Swiss Reformers. The Waldensians merged with the Reformed Churches of Switzerland and France in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and they remained a distinct Protestant community in the Alps until the modern period.
The Waldensian community in the Alps is the oldest continuous Protestant community in the world, and it remains a vital religious community in the modern era. The Waldensian Church of Italy is a recognized religious community in the Italian state, and the Waldensian Church of the Piedmont valleys continues to worship in the historic churches and meeting houses of the community. The Waldensian community is a living testimony to the endurance of religious dissent and to the survival of evangelical Christianity in the face of persecution.
The Legacy of the Waldensians
The legacy of the Waldensians is significant. The Waldensian emphasis on biblical translation, lay preaching, and evangelical poverty anticipated the major themes of the Protestant Reformation by centuries. The Waldensians were often cited by the Protestant Reformers as a precedent for the Reformation, and the Waldensian community provided shelter and support for Protestant missionaries in the sixteenth century.
The Waldensians are also a major subject of academic study and of popular interest. The Waldensian manuscripts — including the biblical translations and the theological writings of the Waldensian pastors — are major sources for the study of medieval heresy and of the pre-Reformation evangelical movements. The Waldensian community continues to attract scholars and visitors who are interested in the history of religious dissent and in the survival of evangelical Christianity in the face of persecution.
Sources
Principal sources used in this article:
- R. I. Moore, The War on Heresy (Profile, 2012).
Further reading:
- Malcolm Barber, The Cathars (Longman, 2000).
For a recent single-volume synthesis with full scholarly apparatus, see the relevant chapter of Barbara H. Rosenwein, A Short History of the Middle Ages (University of Toronto Press, 2014).