Waldenses

Waldenses, members of a Christian sect that grew out of a movement that opposed the ecclesiastical establishment. The sect originated with a wealthy French merchant, Peter Waldo, of Lyon, in the second half of the 12th century. Waldo's followers were known as the “poor men of Lyon.” Itinerant preachers under a vow of poverty, they taught a type of religion that has been erroneously associated with the teachings of the Cathari. Their simple, Bible-based preaching proved more popular, however, than the more complex teachings of the Cathari. The archbishop of Lyon vainly forbade them to preach. They were later excommunicated and persecuted along with the Albigenses in southern France. The Waldenses spread through Europe, but a conspicuous group settled in secluded areas in the Cottian Alps, a range that now marks the border between France and Italy. The areas are still known today as the Waldensian Valleys.

After the Albigenses were crushed, the Waldenses became the victims of the Inquisition in France. In 1487 Pope Innocent VIII organized a crusade against them in Dauphiné and Savoy (both now part of France). Many Waldenses took refuge in Switzerland and Germany, merging gradually with the Bohemian Brethren. The group became openly Calvinistic during the Reformation. In 1535 they paid for the publication in Switzerland of the first French Protestant version of the Bible, prepared by a French Calvinist scholar, Pierre Robert Olivétan. Persecution was renewed in Piedmont (Piemonte) in the middle of the 17th century, and the Waldenses did not achieve full civil and religious liberty in Italy until 1848, under the Sardinian king Charles Albert. In 1855 they founded a school of theology in Torre Pellice, in the province of Turin, their headquarters in modern times. The school was moved to Florence in 1860 and to Rome in 1922.

The Waldenses had 22,000 members throughout Italy in the late 1990s. In South America about 14,000 Waldenses are organized into churches in Argentina and Uruguay. Early colonies of Waldensian refugees were established in Delaware and on Staten Island (New York) in the 17th century. A new wave of immigrants in the late 19th century resulted in the foundation of several Waldensian congregations in the U.S., including those of New York City; Chicago; Valdese, North Carolina; and Monett, Missouri. By the 1970s most of these had merged with the Presbyterian church, forming Waldensian Presbyterian congregations.