The Waldensians, also known as Waldenses (), Vallenses, Valdesi, or Vaudois, are adherents of a church tradition that began as an ascetic movement within Western Christianity before the Reformation. Originally known as the Poor of Lyon in the late 12th century, the movement spread to the Cottian Alps in what is today France and Italy. The founding of the Waldensians is attributed to Peter Waldo, a wealthy merchant who gave away his property around 1173, preaching apostolic poverty as the way to perfection.
In some aspects the Waldensians of the Middle Ages could be seen as proto-Protestants, but they mostly did not raise the doctrinal objections characteristic of sixteenth-century Protestant leaders.Cameron 2000, pp. 264–284 They came to align themselves with Protestantism: with the Synod of Chanforan on 12 September 1532, they formally became a part of what was to become the Calvinist tradition. They were nearly annihilated in the seventeenth century.
Congregations continue to be active in Europe (particularly in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy), South America, and North America. Organizations, such as the American Waldensian Society, maintain the history of the movement and declare their mission as "proclaiming the Christian Gospel, serving the marginalized, promoting social justice, fostering inter-religious work, and advocating respect for religious diversity and freedom of conscience."
Early Waldensian teachings came into conflict with the Catholic Church and by 1215 the Waldensians were declared heretical, not because they preached apostolic poverty, which the Franciscans also preached, but because they were not willing to recognize the prerogatives of local bishops over the content of their preaching, nor to recognize standards about who was fit to preach. Pope Innocent III offered the Waldensians the chance to return to the Church, and many did, taking the name "Poor Catholics".E. Cameron, Waldenses: Rejection of the Holy Church in Medieval Europe (Oxford, 2000), pp. 49–62 However, many did not, and were subjected to intense persecution and were confronted with organised and general discrimination in the following centuries.
In the sixteenth century, the Waldensians were absorbed into the Protestant movement, under the influence of early Swiss reformer Heinrich Bullinger. The main denomination within the movement was the Waldensian Evangelical Church, the original church in Italy. In 1975, it merged with the Methodist Evangelical Church to form the Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches—a majority Waldensian church, with a minority of Methodists. Another large congregation is the Evangelical Waldensian Church of Río de la Plata in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Waldensian churches are members of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe and its affiliates worldwide.
Terminology Early Waldensians belonged to one of three groups:Herbermann, Charles George (1913). The Catholic Encyclopedia, p.250. Universal Knowledge Foundation
Sandaliati (those with sandals) received sacred orders and were to prove the heresiarchs wrong; Doctores instructed and trained missionaries; Novellani preached to the general population.
They were also called Insabbatati, Sabati, Inzabbatati, or Sabotiers—some historians such as the Jesuit Jacob Gretser proposed that this designation arose from the unusual type of sabot they used as footwear, though he noted limitations in the sources supporting his reasoning.Gretser, J. (1738). Opera omnia antehac ab ipsomet auctore accurate recognita, opusculis multis, notis, et paralipomenis pluribus, propriis locis in hac editione insertis aucta et illustrata nunc selecto ordine ad certos titul: Lutherus academicus, et Waldenses sumptibus Joannis Conradi Peez. (p.112) Other historians such as Melchior Goldast and Jesuit Inquisitor Francis Pegne stated the name insabbatati was because of Sabbath-keeping in the manner of Jews, a tradition Inquisitor Moneta of Cremona railed against. In the early Waldenses prose tracts there existed an exposition on the 10 commandments which put forth their own explanation on the 4th commandment which defended Sabbath-keeping, and this is similarly attested by historians, such as Johann Gottfried Hering who defined the Sabbatati (a sect of the Waldenses) as those who kept the Sabbath with the Jews.
Historical sources
Most modern knowledge of the medieval history of the Waldensians originates almost exclusively from the records and writings of the Roman Catholic Church, the same body that was condemning them as heretics.Pita, Gonzalo (2014). "Waldensian and Catholic Theologies of History in the XII–XIV Centuries: Part I". Journal of the Adventist Theological Society 25.2: 65–87. Because of "the documentary scarcity and unconnectedness from which we must draw the description of Waldensian beliefs", much of what is known about the early Waldensians comes from reports like the Profession of faith of Valdo of Lyon (1180); by Durando d'Osca (c.1187–1200); and the Rescriptum of Bergamo Conference (1218).
Earlier documents that provide information about early Waldensian history include the Will of Stefano d'Anse (1187); the (c.1206–1208); and the Anonymous chronicle of Lyon (c.1220). There are also the two reports written for the Inquisition by Reinerius Saccho (died 1259), a former Cathar who converted to Catholicism, published together in 1254 as (On the Cathars and the Poor of Lyon).
Teachings The early Waldensians were associated by councils and papal decrees with the Cathars; however they differed radically from them: the Waldensians never espoused gnostic or dualist views or mysticism, and they did not reject the sacraments in total. The Waldensians initially saw themselves as a "church within the Church" and sprang from the High Medieval pauperistic movement that saw the development of Franciscans etc.
The Waldensians taught certain doctrines also held by the Catholic Church: they accepted the Trinity, and the earliest Waldensians staunchly defended the Eucharist. However, at least some of them later began to develop a more symbolic view of the bread and wine.
The earliest Waldensians taught the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and affirmed the necessity of priests for the offering of the Mass. However they denied the right of sinful priests to give the Eucharist.
Early forms of the Waldensian Mass sought to recover the early Christian liturgy and contained a sevenfold repetition of the Lord's Prayer, with the Eucharistic elements being consecrated through the sign of the cross. The Waldensians observed the forty-day fast of Lent and practiced Friday abstinence.
Both Waldensian and Catholic sources, however, imply that the Waldensians rejected infant baptism, at least to some extent. This is seen from the disputed The Noble Lesson, which refers to Christ specifically calling to baptize those who believed, and texts attributed to Reinerius Saccho mentioning how the Waldensians believed that the "ablution which is given to infants profits nothing". Thus there seems to have been an understanding among the Waldensians that infants could be saved without baptism. They rejected confession to priests, the practice of venerating the saints, the use of oaths, secular courts and prayers for the dead.
Waldensians held and preached a number of doctrines as they read from the Bible. These included: The atoning death and justifying righteousness of Christ; The Godhead; The fall of man; The incarnation of the Son; The value or necessity of voluntary poverty; Perhaps, the universal priesthood of believers, as according to de Bourbon they claimed that all good men are priests.
They also rejected a number of concepts that were widely held in Christian Europe of the era. For example, the Waldensians held that temporal offices and dignities were not meant for preachers of the Gospel; that relics were no different from any other bones and should not be regarded as special or holy; that pilgrimage served only to spend one's money; that meat might be eaten any day if one's appetite served one; that holy water was no more efficacious than rain water; and that prayer was just as effectual if offered in a church or a barn.
Some beliefs attributed to early Waldensians may have come from fabricated documents for polemic purposes, for example by English Puritan diplomat Samuel Morland, some of whose sources were immediately lost and anachronistic. These beliefs have early Waldensians speaking of the Catholic Church as the harlot of the Apocalypse,Inquisitor Reyenerious, A. D. 1250, and extracted by Allix (Chap. 22) rejecting what they perceived as the idolatry of the Catholic Church and considered the papacy as the Antichrist of Rome. From Morland also comes the information that the early Waldensians rejected purgatory. These influenced Victorian views of the Waldensians, and the development of a myth or hypothesis of an earlier proto-Protestant community, the Vaudois.
The characterization of the early Waldensians as proto-Protestants has been questioned by modern scholars: while they may have had a form of sola scriptura they did not embrace sola fide in their view of justification; some emphasized a born-again experience.
(The Noble Lesson), written in the Old Occitan language, outlines the medieval Waldensian beliefs. It is believed that this poem was written some time between 1190 and 1240,Bosio, Enrico, "La Nobla Leyczon considérée au point de vue de la doctrine, de la morale et de l'histoire" (in French), Bulletin de la Société d'Histoire Vaudoise, no. 2 (dic.1885), pp.20–36. but there is evidence that it was written in the first part of the fifteenth century.Montet, Edouard, La noble leçon, texte original d'après le manuscrit de Cambridge, 1888, pp.19–26. The Noble Lesson exists in four manuscripts: two are housed at the University of Cambridge, one at Trinity College in Dublin, and another in Geneva.Montet, Edouard, La noble leçon, texte original d'après le manuscrit de Cambridge, 1888, p.19.
Works attributed to Reinerius Saccho gave the following charges against the Waldensians:
The Pope is the head of all errors The Monks are Pharisees Christians should obey God instead of the Prelates That no one is above one another in the church No one should kneel before a priest Tithes should not be given Bishops should not have royal rights They condemn the Catholic sacraments The Church has erred by prohibiting the marriage of the clergy
The Waldensians would, later in their history, adopt a number of doctrines from the Reformed churches due to the French Reformer Guillaume Farel, who introduced Reformation theology to Waldensian leaders. They officially adopted Reformed theology at a conference at Cianforan 1532. As a result of the conference, the Waldensians officially modified some of their previous positions such as their rejection of secular courts.
History Origins According to legend, Peter Waldo renounced his wealth as an encumbrance to preaching,Liber visionum et miraculorum, Anonymous Chronicles of Lyon which led other members of the Catholic clergy to follow his example. Because of this shunning of wealth, this early movement was known as The Poor of Lyon and The Poor of Lombardy.Tourn, Giorgio (1999). Les Vaudois, l’étonnante aventure d’un peuple-église. Claudiana.