Originally known as the Poor of Lyon in the late twelfth century, [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] 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 , [ 4 ] [ 2 ] preaching apostolic poverty as the way to perfection. Waldensian teachings came into conflict with the Catholic Church and by 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.
In the sixteenth century, the Waldensians were absorbed into the Protestant movement, under the influence of early Swiss reformer Heinrich Bullinger. 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. They are members of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe and its affiliates worldwide. They were nearly annihilated in the seventeenth century.
The main denomination within the movement was the Waldensian Evangelical Church , the original church in Italy. In , it merged with the Methodist Evangelical Church to form the Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches βa majority Waldensian church, with a minority of Methodists. Organizations, such as the American Waldensian Society, [ 11 ] 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.
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. Earlier documents that provide information about early Waldensian history include the Will of Stefano d'Anse ; the Manifestatio haeresis Albigensium et Lugdunensium c. There are also the two reports written for the Inquisition by Reinerius Saccho died , a former Cathar who converted to Catholicism, published together in as Summa de Catharis et Pauperibus de Lugduno On the Cathars and the Poor of Lyon.
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.
