27 Facts About Waldensians

Waldensians are adherents of a church tradition that began as an ascetic movement within Western Christianity before the Reformation.

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.

Waldensian teachings came into conflict with the Catholic Church and by 1215 the Waldensians were declared heretical, not because they preached apostolic poverty, 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.

Waldensians held and preached a number of doctrines as they read from the Bible.

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 flesh 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.

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Waldensians likely denied the practice of infant baptism, at least to some extent.

Renerius Saccho, additionally writing against the Waldensians, stated that the Waldensians believed that the "ablution which is given to infants profits nothing".

Waldensians rejected the use of oaths and prayers for the dead.

Waldensians were associated by councils and papal decrees with the Cathars; however they differed radically from them: the Waldensians never accepted Gnostic views, they did not reject the sacraments in total and did not believe in mysticism.

Waldensians proceeded to disobey the Third Lateran Council and continued to preach according to their own understanding of the Scriptures.

Many among the Waldensians claimed that people such as Claudius of Turin and Berengar of Tours were first representatives of the sect, but in modern times claims of the Waldenses to high antiquity are no longer accepted.

In 1211 more than 80 Waldensians were burned as heretics at Strasbourg; this action launched several centuries of persecution that nearly destroyed the movement.

Waldensians briefly ruled Buda, the capital of Hungary from 1304 to 1307.

Waldensians required that the local populace quarter the troops in their homes, which the local populace complied with.

Oliver Cromwell, then ruler in England, began petitioning on behalf of the Waldensians, writing letters, raising contributions, calling a general fast in England and threatening to send military forces to the rescue.

However, when the French awoke the next morning they discovered that the Waldensians, guided by one of their number familiar with the Balsiglia, had already descended from the peak during the night and were now miles away.

The Duke agreed to defend the Waldensians and called for all other Vaudois exiles to return home to help protect the Piedmont borders against the French, in what came to be known as the "Glorious Return".

Waldensians were influences to the Zwickau Prophets who came out in support of believer's baptism.

The Waldensians influenced some in the Bohemian reformation, especially Petr Chelcicky.

James Aitken Wylie likewise believed the Waldensians preserved the apostolic faith and its practices during the Middle Ages.

Waldensians's claimed the Waldenses kept the seventh-day Sabbath, engaged in widespread missionary activity, and "planted the seeds of the Reformation" in Europe.

In 1848, after many centuries of harsh persecution, the Waldensians acquired legal freedom in the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia as a result of the liberalising reforms which followed Charles Albert of Sardinia's granting a constitution .

Waldensians was unable to come for reasons of health but sent A Jalla, a teacher, described as being full of spite and hatred against all things German after 1945, but who joined in the effort for reconciliation 1949.

Since colonial times there have been Waldensians who sailed to America, as marked by the presence of them in New Jersey and Delaware.

Many Waldensians, having escaped persecution in their homelands by making their way to the tolerant Dutch Republic, crossed the Atlantic to start anew in the New Netherland colony, establishing the first church in North America on Staten Island in 1670.

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Waldensians living in the Cottian Alps region of Northern Italy continued to migrate to Monett until the early 1900s, augmenting the original colony, and founded another, larger settlement in Valdese, North Carolina, in 1893.

In 1853 a group of approximately 70 Waldensians, including men, women, and children, left their homes in the Piedmont Valleys and migrated to Pleasant Green, Hunter, and Ogden, Utah, after being converted to Mormonism by Lorenzo Snow.