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A HISTORY OF THE WALDENSIANS

Musée protestant > Before 16th century > A History of the Waldensians

The Waldensian movement started in Lyon towards the end of the 12th century and
spread throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. It joined with the Reform Movement
and they were violently persecuted, only able to maintain resistance in the
Alpine valleys of the Piedmont. Today, their Church proudly remembers its tragic
past and has members in the major towns of Italy as well as in Uruguay and
Argentina.


PETER WALDO (1140-1217)

 * © www.info-bible.org

The Waldesian movement took it’s name from Valdus or Waldo who, around 1170,
following a crisis of conscience, sold his possessions and spent the rest of his
life preaching the Gospel to his fellow men. To help the non-clergy understand
the New Testament he had it translated into the language which was commonly used
at that time, Provencal. His ideas spread all over Europe. Waldo and his
disciples, “the Poor of Lyon“, were declared heretics by the Roman Catholic
Church, mostly because in their community lay people, including women, were
allowed to preach. They were excommunicated by Pope Lucius III in 1184.

Nevertheless, the “Poor of Lyons” continued to preach, but they were forced to
lead underground lives because they were persecuted. Their main source of
inspiration was the Sermon on the Mount. They advocated non-violence and refused
to swear oaths, while also rejecting any compromise by the Church with those
having political power.

The Waldensian movement (as they came to be called by their enemies) grew from
strength to strength during the Middle Ages, in spite of persecution. In the
18th century it was based in Lombardy, around Milan. Later it spread to Austria
and Southern Germany, where it was strongly influenced by the followers of Jan
Hus. Large communities also became established in the Piedmont valleys. Their
preachers, called “barbes” (i.e. “uncles”, so as not to be confused with the
Catholic “fathers”) travelled throughout Europe regularly visit the small
underground groups of followers.


IN THE 16TH CENTURY THEY JOINED WITH THE REFORM MOVEMENT

 * © Rachel Barral
 * Olivétan’s French Bible, 1535 edition by Pierre de Wingle in Neuchâtel
   © Fonds Société Biblique / Marc Gantier

When the Reform Movement spread throughout Europe, the Waldensians came to hear
of it and decided they wanted to know more about this new Church movement. They
sent envoys to Berne, Basel and Strasbourg to hold discussions with
Oecolampadius, Martin Bucer and William Farel, who was later present at the 1532
Waldensian synod in Chanforan (in the Waldensian Valleys of Italy). After
several days of discussions, the Waldensians decided to join the Reform Movement
and, in particular, to become followers of Zwingli and Bucer. They came out into
the open, to a large extent but, from then on refused to follow any Roman
Catholic practices, built new “temples” and held services in public. Their
pastors were attached to a particular parish and no longer travelling preachers
or “barbes”, as in the Middle Ages. They financed the translation into French of
the entire Bible ; this was the well-known Olivetan Bible.


THE REFORM MOVEMENT SPREAD THROUGHOUT ITALY (1532-1559)

 * © Rachel Barral

After the synod of Chanforan in 1532, the Waldesians were active in spreading
the ideas of the Reformation in Italy, first down on the plain and then to the
south of the peninsula, thus linking up with other existing groups in Italy
which had already joined the Reform Movement.

Evangelising of the Piedmont Valleys took place primarily during the French
occupation, from 1536 to 1559 (the Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis gave back to the
Duke of Savoy his former territory). Many inhabitants of the Piedmont Valleys
went to Geneva for religious instruction and returned to preach the Gospel
throughout the Italian peninsula. From 1555 onwards, the first “temples” were
built.

The Waldensians suffered violent repression after coming out into the open ; in
this they shared the same fate as the French Protestants. At first, the victims
were the pastors, owners of bookshops and leaders of the movement. Many were
burned at the stake for their faith.

The main groups of Waldensians were based in three regions : Provence, Calabria
and the Alps. All suffered from persecution at one time or another.


THE MASSACRE OF THE WALDENSIANS IN THE LUBERON

In the 14th and 15th centuries, waves of Waldensians left the Dauphiné
(Southeastern France) and Piedmont Valleys to settle in Provence, where they
helped to revive a region which had seen ruin and depopulation. They were, on
the whole, well accepted. In 1532, there were about thirty “barbes” in the
Luberon. But as soon as they supported the Reform Movement they were victims of
persecution by the famous leader of the Inquisition, Jean de Roma, and Baron
Jean Meynier d’Oppède, first President of the Parliament of Provence at Aix. The
“Arrêt de Mérindol” of 1540, ordered the complete destruction of the village ,
although this did not actually take place until 1545. Mérindol was plundered and
destroyed by Baron Meynier d’Oppède’s troops. Most of the inhabitants were able
to flee and later returned. The massacre spread throughout the Luberon and there
were more than 2000 victims. 700 Waldesians were sent to the galleys. This
massacre of the Waldensians shocked the whole of Europe and was never forgotten
in the area.

The Provencal group, which had been almost entirely destroyed, was soon absorbed
into the French Protestant movement and all but forgot their Waldensian roots.


THE MASSACRE OF THE WALDENSIANS IN CALABRIA

There were many groups of Waldensians in Calabria. After the synod of Chanforan
they joined the Reform movement and came out of hiding. The Inquisition sent a
mission to this part of Italy in 1560 with it’s attendant courts and punishment
at the stake. Two pastors who died for their faith have never been forgotten –
Jacques Bonello and Giovanni Luigi Pascale – who had both been sent to Calabria
by the Church in Geneva. One was burned at the stake in Palermo in 1560 and the
other in Rome in the same year. The country was then ravaged by a violent
military campaign and the Waldensians were decimated ; those who escaped were
forced to renounce their faith.


WALDENSIAN RESISTANCE IN THE PIEDMONT VALLEYS

In the Cottian Alps the Waldensians lived both in the Dauphine and in the Duchy
of Savoy, on either side of the mountain. In the Dauphine, the Waldensians
joined the French Protestants, took part in the religious wars and then lived
under the somewhat modest protection of the Edict of Nantes ; they managed,
however, to keep in regular contact with the other Waldesians in the Duchy of
Savoy.

Although the valleys on the Italian side of the Alps belonged to the Duchy of
Savoy, they were in constant fear of invasion by France. After the first French
occupation lasting from 1536 to 1559, Duke Emmanuel Philibert, who had regained
his land with the treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis (1559), sent a military expedition
in 1560 against the Waldensians in the Luserne valley. Their preachers persuaded
them to give up their traditional non-violence and take up arms. They fought up
in the mountains and for them it was truly a holy war, like the fight between
David and Goliath. Before every battle, the soldiers would pray and sing psalms,
while their pastors maintained strict discipline among the troops and forbade
any looting. The Dauphine Protestants sent military support from the other side
of the Alps and the Waldensians were able to make a stand against the Duke’s
armies. After six months of fighting, he agreed to sign a treaty. The Cavour
agreement (1581) brought back the special privileges and exemptions which the
Waldensians had previously been given and it became possible once more to
worship in public even in remote places in the mountains. Under this agreement,
a Roman Catholic prince had to allow spiritual dissidents the right to live on
his lands. However, sadly, this treaty resulted in the Waldensians having to
retreat back to the mountains, and stopped their spread on the plain. The
adjective “Waldensian” (or “Vaudois”), from then on, was only applied to that
tiny remnant of the former Waldensian diaspora.


THE 17TH CENTURY WAS A TIME OF HARDSHIP AND STRUGGLE

 * © Musée international de la Réforme, Genève
 * 
 * 
 * Statue Henri Arnaud, Torre Pellice
 * © Chiesavaldese.org

In 1630 an epidemic of the plague came to the Waldensian valleys and destroyed a
third of the population – 11 out of the 13 pastors died. The Waldesians sent
envoys to Geneva to ask for help and pastors were sent from Switzerland. These
pastors made the Waldensians accept the customs of the Church of Geneva and they
had to adopt French as the official language of their Church – this situation
did not change until the mid 19th century.

The Turin court was under the political influence of the French. From 1640
onwards the Waldensians came under attack more and more frequently. In 1655
troops were stationed with Waldensian families and began to massacre the
population. The Protestant valleys of the Piedmont became Roman Catholic once
more. These massacres, known as the “Piedmont Easter massacre” or the “Bloody
Spring” aroused indignation in Cromwell’s England. It also prompted the poet
John Milton to describe the massacres in a famous poem. Holland and in the rest
of Europe were deeply shocked at such cruelty. Mazarin himself intervened. At
the same time guerilla warfare continued in the Piedmont Valleys, fought by a
handful of indomitable soldiers led by a farmer, Janavel, who is a legend in
Waldensian history. Due to international pressure, the Duke of Savoy had to give
in and abide by the conditions of the Cavour agreement. The Waldensians were
able to go back to their valleys but the Duke put more and more pressure on them
as time went by.

In 1685 the effects of the Edict of Nantes were also felt in the French
territory of the Piedmont Valleys : Le Val Plagela and the Val Cluson.
Consequently, many Waldensian families decided to go into exile and settled in
Hesse-Cassel, founding villages where they had freedom of conscience and could
live in accordance with their faith.

The Duke of Savoy, Victor Amadeus II, a nephew of Louis XIV, continued the
anti-Waldensian policy of his uncle ; The Duke of Savoy, Victor Amadeus II, who
married Louis XIV’s niece, continued Louis XIV’s religious policies : in the
decree of January 1686, he banished their pastors, forbade public worship and
forced parents to give their children a Roman Catholic baptism. The pastor Henri
Arnaud advocated rebellion. The Waldensians were defeated in a short three-day
war ; many died and 8500 were imprisoned. However, thanks to Swiss intervention,
a certain number managed to flee to Geneva.

In 1688, the political situation in Europe was turned upside down when William
of Orange came to the English throne and formed a coalition against Louis XIV.
He sent emissaries to the exiled Waldensians in Switzerland and secretly
organised their return to the Piedmont Valleys in 1689. This episode is known as
the “Glorious Return“. Only 900 men managed to get back to the Piedmont ; they
had to march in terrible conditions, using a very unusual route. However, they
arrived in Prali, in the Val Germanica, and were able to hold their first public
service on 8th September 1689, led by pastor Henri Arnaud. They swore the oath
of Sibaud on 11th September 1689, loyally promising to keep together and
continue their fight for the Waldensian cause, with Arnaud as their military and
religious leader. They escaped from the French army as if by a miracle thanks to
fog. Some days later, Victor Amadeus broke off his alliance with France and
became an ally of England. The Waldensians were saved. The English put pressure
on the Duke of Savoy and made him issue a decree giving the Waldensians civil
rights in their territories.


THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT

The Waldensian territories became a Protestant enclave in the Catholic Piedmont
valleys, which became the Kingdom of Sardinia. The Austro-Hungarians now ruled
over them, replacing the French.

It was thanks to the support of Churches in surrounding Protestant countries
that the Waldensians were able to survive ; pastors and financial aid were sent
which enabled them to set up their own schools. With the help of scholarships
their young people were able to study in Geneva, Basel, Leyden or Heidelberg.

Compared to the preceding century, life was not quite so harrowing, but the
Waldensians were constantly subjected to acts of humiliation and day by day
fought desperately to survive at all. They lived in a kind of “ghetto”, cut off
from the rest of the Italian peninsula but were attached to the rest of Europe
by their links with other Protestant countries.


THE WALDENSIANS GAINED THEIR FREEDOM

 * Alexis Muston at the age of 50 (1810-1888) © Collection Pierre Bolle
 * Félix Neff © S.H.P.F.
 * 

The Waldensians welcomed the armies of the Revolution and later of Bonaparte.
From 1795 to 1815 they were given freedom of conscience and were no longer
restricted to their “ghetto”. However, all this changed in 1815 when the King of
Sardinia was restored to the throne ; he brought back the former restrictive
laws controlling the Waldensians. Pastor Alexis Muston was accused of publishing
a thesis on the Waldensians without official permission and was taken to court.
He had to flee to France, where the Protestant Church appointed him pastor in
the Drôme and later in Paris. His book called The Israel of the Alps : a
complete history of the Waldenses and their colonies was translated into English
and German ; indeed English travelers were fascinated by it. They came to the
Waldensian valleys and became benefactors of their churches. W. Stephen Gilly
and Charles Beckwith, amongst others, set up an outstanding network of schools
in these valleys. Charles Beckworth tried to open a school in every village and
by 1848 there were 169 of them.

In 1825 Felix Neff led an evangelism campaign in the Waldensian valleys.

On 17th February 1848 Charles Albert of Sardinia gave the Waldensians legal and
political freedom with the introduction of his liberalizing reforms (the “Edict
of Emancipation” or “Les Lettres Patentes“). This was received with great
acclaim. However, the Waldensian Church was barely tolerated and they had to
struggle for over a century before receiving equal recognition with the Catholic
Church. This did not prevent them from starting an energetic mission of
evangelism throughout the Italian peninsula and many new communities were
founded. Indeed, the building of the Temple in Turin, which was opened in 1853,
symbolised their right to preach outside the Waldensian valleys. From then on,
their pastors received instruction in the Waldensian Faculty of Theology, which
was founded in 1855 in Torre Pelice, and later transferred to Rome. Classes took
place in Italian and no longer in French. Many charitable institutions were
founded, such as schools, hospitals, retirement homes and cultural centers. The
publishing company Claudiana enabled the Waldensian Church to spread its
influence.

During the second part of the 19th century, the Waldensian valleys faced a
period of severe poverty so many people emigrated to Uruguay and Argentina,
founding many Spanish-speaking churches which are still active today.


THE WALDENSIAN CHURCH IN ITALY TODAY

 * 

In Italy today the Waldensian and Methodist Churches, unified in 1975, have
25,000 members ; 10,000 live in the Waldensian valleys where they make up half
the population. They have maintained strong links with the Waldensian Churches
in Latin America as they attend the same synod. The Waldensian churches were
founder members of the World Council of Churches, the World Alliance of Reformed
Churches and the Communauté évangélique d’action apostolique (Cevaa).

In the second part of the 20th century, pastor Tulio Vinay founded two major
institutions : the Agape centre in Prali in the Waldensian valleys – it is
international and specialises in studying political, religious and social
issues ; the Riesi centre in Sicily , a community centre which works at bringing
new life to this small town.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

 * Books
     
     
     
   * TOURN Giorgio, Les Vaudois, l’étonnante aventure d’un peuple-église,
     Claudiana, 1999


ASSOCIATED NOTES


 * PIERRE VALDO (1140-1217) AND THE WALDENSES
   
   Pierre Valdo started the Waldenses movement, which spread throughout southern
   Europe.


 * ULRICH ZWINGLI (1484-1531)
   
   Zwingli, a pastor and theologian, based the Reformation on Bible study. In
   his opinion the Reformation comprised fighting social injustice.


 * GUILLAUME FAREL (1489-1565)
   
   Farel was the reformer of French-speaking Switzerland, precisely in the
   Neuchâtel area. He was a preacher but also an organiser and author of a
   liturgy in French.


 * MARTIN BUCER (1491-1551)
   
   He was born in Alsace, was a humanist and tried all his life long to
   safeguard the unity of the Church.


 * OLIVÉTAN (1506-1538)
   
   Olivétan is well-known for his French translation of the Bible, referred to
   as Olivétan’s Bible. It was the first Bible ever to be translated into French
   from the original Hebrew...


 * THE EDICT OF NANTES (1598)
   
   This was Henri IV’s major achievement : the terms of this edict ensured the
   peaceful coexistence of Catholics and Protestants and brought a stop to all
   hostilities in France after 36 years...


 * REVIVAL MOVEMENTS
   
   The 19th century revival movement took shape within the context of
   romanticism. Its piety is of a more existential and sentimental nature, a
   piety « revived » when compared to a faith...


 * THE EIGHT WARS OF RELIGION (1562-1598)
   
   In the 16th Century, France was to know a religious split : the great
   majority of the country remained faithful to Catholicism, whilst an important
   majority joined the Reformation. Coexistence of...


 * JAN HUS (1369-1415) AND THE HUSSITE WARS (1419-1436)
   
   Hus was a Czech priest, who, a century before Luther, called for a reform of
   the Chuch and was burnt at the stake. His death set off a religious,
   political...


 * PROTESTANTISM IN ITALY AND SPAIN
   
   There was fierce opposition to the Reform Movement, so it never really took a
   permanent hold in these two countries. The Jesuits in Italy, and especially
   the Spanish Inquisition, were...


 * PROTESTANTISM IN GERMANY
   
   The Lutheran Reformation movement was a crucial event in German history. This
   theological and religious revolution had a major effect on German politics,
   language and culture. Today Germany has several...


 * PROTESTANTISM IN ALSACE-LORRAINE
   
   


 * PROTESTANTISM IN FRANCE
   
   With about one million members, the Protestant Church ranks third in France
   after Catholicism and Islam. But there is an uneven spread over the different
   geographical regions.


CONTENTS

   
 * Peter Waldo (1140-1217)
 * In the 16th century they joined with the Reform Movement
 * The Reform Movement spread throughout Italy (1532-1559)
 * The massacre of the Waldensians in the Luberon
 * The massacre of the Waldensians in Calabria
 * Waldensian resistance in the Piedmont Valleys
 * The 17th century was a time of hardship and struggle
 * The Age of Enlightenment
 * The Waldensians gained their freedom
 * The Waldensian Church in Italy today

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   
 * Bibliography
 * Associated notes

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   
 * Glossary

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   

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