The History of the Waldenses

Hundreds of years before the Protestant Reformation struck medieval Europe there was a group of Christians who challenged the primacy of the Catholic Church.

But who were these precursors of Protestantism?

What were their beliefs and how did they influence later rejections of Roman Catholicism?

Following the teachings of Peter Waldo, the Waldenses had emerged in the later twelfth century.

Shunning wealth and translating the Bible in their own language, this religious order that began in southern France quickly came into conflict with the Catholic Church.

By 1215 they were declared heretical by Pope Innocent III.

But unlike other Christian heresies, like the Albigensians, they were not obliterated by a crusade and instead carried on through to the Reformation and even afterwards.

They were however still persecuted for their beliefs, most notoriously in 1545 when Provencal and Papal soldiers killed hundreds or even thousands of Waldenses at Merindol.

J. A. Wylie’s brilliant The History of the Waldenses uncovers the fascinating story of this early reformed church, it is essential reading for anyone interested in discovering more about the origins of Protestantism.

James Aitken Wylie was a Scottish historian of religion and Presbyterian minister. He was a prolific writer and is most famous for his twenty-four book long The History of Protestantism. The History of the Waldenses is the sixteenth book in this work and was first published in 1860. Wylie died before completing his History of the Scottish Nation in 1890.

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