WALDENSES, wrd-dim's?lz. The name riven to the followers of Peter Waldo and their sue c•esso•x in modern times. Waldo. or more prop erly Valdez or Valdesius, was a wealthy merchant of Lyons, in the latter half of the twelfth century. Moved by the death of a friend in '1170. he determined to lead a life of poverty and to de vote himself to the cause of religion. As he wished to read the Scriptures, he employed two ecciesias ties to translate portions of the Bible and some special passages from the Fathers into the ver nacnlar. He divided his property with his wife, placed his two daughters in the monastery of Fontevrault. and gave all his money to the poor. Followers soon docked to him, and were known sometimes by his name. sometimes as the Alen of Later some of them asserted that their Church had always been independent of the Roman Catholic Church, and that their origin dated from the persecutions of the third tury. This idea is now entirely abandoned. Waldo and his followers had no intention of rating from the Church. but their fundamental principles, that, first, all Christians, lay or ical. ought freely to interpret the Scriptures, and second, that laymen had a right to teach, brought them under the condemnation of the Church. The Archbishop of Lyons forbade them to teach, and they appealed to the Pope. They were convicted of error at the Lateran Council in 1179. Then they appealed for permission to found an order, but this was denied, as the Pope objected to their dress and to the close association of the two sexes in their journeys. As they continued their preaching, they were anathematized by the Coun cil of Verona in 11S4, and again at Narbonne in 1190. Many fled from Lyons into Dauphine and Piedmont. Their missionaries traveled far and wide making converts. They still considered themselves members of the Church, but preached against the vices of the clergy and held the be lief that only a holy priest could administer the sacraments. Gradually the community took form. It consisted really of two parts: the
proper, made up of men and women who had taken the three monastic vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and for whom it was not lawful to lie, to take an oath, or to shed blood; and, second, who followed the teach ings of Waldo but were not obliged to take the vows. It is impossible now to determine exactly their organization, as it differed from place to place; but they had bishops, priests, and deacons. In the beginning their beliefs were nearly the same as those held by the orthodox Christians of the time. The councils and inquisitors frequently tinguished between heretics and the followers of Waldo. Nevertheless they suffered with the Albigenses, from whom they differed widely in doctrine, in the Albigensian crusade. (See AL mcr•.vsrs.) As a result were left in France. Their headquarters in the thirteenth eentury were in the upper valleys of Piedmont. There they were known as the of 'the Leo nisti$ from their origin at Lyons. or as the from the shoes fashioned like sandals which they wore. Many other names were given to them at different times and in different places, of which the most familiar is the Prime]] name Vaudois.
In Piedmont. they suffered persecution in 1220. In 1231 Pope Gregory N. excommuni cated them, but they increased steadily in bers. They suffered much from the Inquisition in Molly parts of Europe, but in Piedmont the steep valleys and their gave then] a relative security. In the fourteenth and fifteenth turies many went to Calabria under the pro tection of the Neapolitan ruler, and established several colonies. In the fourteenth century there were perseent ions in Piedmont. but it is not solutely' certain that the victims were mainly Waldenses. At this time the obseurity of the Waldenses in Piedmont makes it difficult to trace their history. Later the followers of John Huss complained bitterly of their lukewarumess, but the school of as their priests were called, continued to exist.