Editing Waldensians (section)

== History ==

=== Origins ===

According to legend, Peter Waldo renounced his wealth as an encumbrance to preaching,<ref>''Liber visionum et miraculorum'', Anonymous Chronicles of Lyon</ref>{{full citation needed|date=May 2022}} which led other members of the Catholic clergy to follow his example. Because of this shunning of wealth, the movement was early known as The Poor of Lyon and The Poor of Lombardy.<ref>Tourn, Giorgio (1999). ''Les Vaudois, l’étonnante aventure d’un peuple-église''. Claudiana.</ref>

Although they rose to prominence in the twelfth century, some evidence suggests that the Waldenses may have existed even before the time of [[Peter Waldo]], perhaps as early as 1100.<ref name="Minahan 2002 p. 2031">{{cite book | last=Minahan | first=J. | title=Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: S-Z | publisher=Greenwood Press | series=Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: Ethnic and National Groups Around the World | year=2002 | isbn=978-0-313-32384-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zu5GpDby9H0C&pg=PA2031 | access-date=2023-08-11 | page=2031}}</ref> In 1179, at the [[Third Council of the Lateran]], [[Pope Alexander III]] lamented that the Waldenses were a "pest of long existence".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Leger |first=Jean |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kItEJE3jb2kC |title=Histoire générale des Eglises evangeliques des vallees de Piemont; ou vaudoises. divisée en deux livres,...par Jean Leger, Pasteur & Moderateur des Eglises des Vallées, & depuis la violence de la Persecution, appelé à l'Eglise Wallonne de Leyde. Le tout enrichi de Tailles douces |date=1669 |publisher=chez Jean Le Carpentier |pages=155 |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Gilly |first=William Stephen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C2UlwdHz0cAC&dq=waldenses+council+lateran+ancient&pg=PA45 |title=Waldensian Researches During a Second Visit to the Vaudois of Piemont: With an Introductory Inquiry Into the Antiquity and Purity of the Waldensian Church ... |date=1831 |publisher=C. J. G. & F. Rivington |language=en}}</ref> While the Inquisitor [[Reinerius Saccho]] in the thirteenth century also spoke about the dangers of the Waldenses for among other reasons its antiquity "some say that it has lasted from the time of [[Pope Sylvester I|Sylvester]], others, from the time of the Apostles."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tuy |first=Lucas de |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yWDyvMCyE-EC |title=Lucae Tudensis Episcopi scriptores aliquot succedanei contra sectam Waldensium: nunc primum in lucem editi cum prolegomenis et notis ... |date=1613 |publisher=excudebat Andreas Angermarius |pages=54 |language=la}}</ref> In the seventeenth century, Waldensian Pastor [[Henri Arnaud (pastor)|Henri Arnaud]] stated that "the Vaudois are, in fact, descended from those refugees from Italy, who, after St Paul had there preached the gospel abandoned their beautiful country, like the woman mentioned in the apocalypse and fled to those wild mountains where they have to this day, handed down the gospel from father to son in the same purity and simplicity as it was preached by St Paul.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Arnaud |first=Henri |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kgpCAAAAcAAJ&q=paul |title=Histoire de la glorieuse rentrée des Vaudois |date=1710 |language=fr}}</ref>

The Waldensian movement was characterized from the beginning by lay preaching, voluntary poverty, and strict adherence to the Bible. Between 1175 and 1185, Waldo either commissioned a cleric from Lyon to translate the New Testament into the vernacular—the [[Arpitan]] (Franco-Provençal) language<ref>Harris, M. Roy (1984). "Old Waldensian: Some linguistic and editorial observations". ''Romance Philology'' 38(2), pp. 200–225.</ref>—or was himself involved in this translation work.{{citation needed|date= January 2019}}

In 1179, Waldo and one of his disciples went to Rome, where Pope Alexander III and the Roman Curia welcomed them. They had to explain their faith before a panel of three clergymen, including issues that were then debated within the Church, such as the universal priesthood, the gospel in the vulgar tongue, and the issue of voluntary poverty. The results of the meeting were inconclusive; in that same year, the Third Lateran Council condemned Waldo's ideas, but not the movement itself, while the leaders of the movement were not [[excommunication|excommunicated]] for the moment.<ref name="CE">{{cite encyclopedia|url= http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15527b.htm |encyclopedia=Catholic Encyclopedia |title=Waldenses |via=New Advent |date= 1 October 1912 |access-date= 26 February 2014}}</ref>

The Waldensians proceeded to disobey the Third Lateran Council and continued to preach according to their own understanding of the Scriptures. In 1184, Waldo and his followers were excommunicated and forced from Lyon. The [[Catholic Church]] declared them [[heresy|heretics]], stating that the group's principal error was contempt for [[ecclesiastical]] power. Rome also accused the Waldensians of teaching innumerable errors.<ref>Brooke, Rosalind B. (1975), ''The Coming of the Friars'', New York: Routledge<!-- Barnes & Noble is a bookshop chain, not a publisher -->, pp.{{nbsp}}72–73</ref>

Waldo and his followers developed a system whereby they would go from town to town and meet secretly with small groups of Waldensians. There they would confess sins and hold service. A traveling Waldensian preacher was known as a ''barba''. The group would shelter the ''barba'' and help make arrangements to move on to the next town in secret.<ref>Comba, Emilio (1978) ''History of the Waldenses of Italy, from their origin to the Reformation''. New York: AMS Press, {{ISBN|978-0-4041-6119-4}}</ref> Waldo possibly died in the early thirteenth{{nbsp}}century, possibly in Germany; he was never captured, and his fate remains uncertain.<ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1093/pastj/gtl004 | jstor = 4125197 | issn = 0031-2746 | pages = 3–33 | last = Biller | first = Peter | author-link = Peter Biller |title = Goodbye to Waldensianism? | journal = Past & Present | date = August 2006| issue = 192 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

Early Waldensians belonged to one of three groups:<ref name="herberman">Herbermann, Charles George (1913). ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'', p.{{nbsp}}250. Universal Knowledge Foundation</ref>{{nonspecific|reason=Entry needed|date=May 2022}}

* ''Sandaliati''<!-- What language are these words? Latin? Occitan? --> (those with sandals) received sacred orders and were to prove the [[heresiarch]]s wrong;
* ''Doctores'' instructed and trained missionaries;
* ''Novellani'' preached to the general population.

They were also called ''Insabbatati'', ''Sabati'', ''Inzabbatati'', or ''Sabotiers''—Some historians such as the [[Jesuits|Jesuit]] [[Jacob Gretser]] claimed this designation arose from the unusual type of [[Clog (shoe)|sabot]] they used as footwear.<ref name="Herzog">Gretser, J. (1738). Opera omnia antehac ab ipsomet auctore accurate recognita, opusculis multis, notis, et paralipomenis pluribus, propriis locis in hac editione insertis aucta et illustrata nunc selecto ordine ad certos titul: Lutherus academicus, et Waldenses sumptibus Joannis Conradi Peez. (p.112) [https://books.google.com/books?id=1utdyUTpKhsC]</ref> However, he admitted that his reasoning on this etymology did not have the support of the literature of his day because these sources, he said, contained many errors.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gretser |first=Jacob |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wkZfkeLgeqUC |title=Opera omnia, antehac ab ipsomet auctore accurate recognita, opusculis multis, notis, et paralipomenis pluribus, propriis locis in hac editione insertis, aucta et illustrata, nunc selecto ordine ad certos titulos revocata |date=1738 |pages=112 |language=la}}</ref><ref name=Damstegt>{{Cite journal |last=Damstegt |first=Gerard |date=Autumn 2016 |title=Decoding Ancient Waldenses Names: New Discoveries |url=https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3448&context=auss |journal=Andrews University Seminary Studies |volume=54 |issue=2}}</ref>{{rp|247}} Other historians such as [[Melchior Goldast]] stated that the name insabbatati was because of Sabbath keeping in the manner of Jews.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Goldast |first=Melchior |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=du1TAAAAcAAJ&q=sabbato |title=Melchioris Haiminsfeldii Goldasti Rationale Constitutionum Imperialium, Autoschediasthen Sive Extemporale: In quo cum ipsis Constitutionibus argumenta dicuntur, tum Sacri Romani Imperii iura aduersus Caesaris Baronii Cardinalis Romani Annales elenchos praescribuntur (p. 78) |date=1607 |language=la}}</ref> [[Jesuits|Jesuit]] [[Inquisitor]] Francis Pegne cited in [[Nicholas Eymerich]] famous work the [[Directorium Inquisitorum|Directorium Inquisitorium]] stated that "many used to think it [insabbatati] came from Sabbath, and that they [Waldenses] observed the Sabbath according to the custom of the Jews."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eymerich (O.P.) |first=Nicolau |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N8ZJkWRUYSQC |title=Directorium Inquisitorum |date=1595 |publisher=sumptibus Simeonis Vasalini |pages=225 |language=la}}</ref> Likewise in the twelfth century, Inquisitor Moneta of Cremona railed against the Waldenses for seventh day sabbath keeping after the manner of Jews.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Moneta |first1=of Cremona |url=http://archive.org/details/venerabilispatri00mone |title=Venerabilis patris Monetae Cremonensis ordinis praedicatorum S.P. dominico aequalis Adversus Catharos et Valdenses libri quinque : quos ex manuscriptis codd. Vaticano, Bononiensi, ac Neapolitano |last2=Ricchini |first2=Tommaso Agostino |last3=Sintes |first3=Giovanni Battista |last4=Fratta |first4=Domenico Maria |last5=Pomarede |first5=Silvio |last6=Palearini |first6=Nicolò |last7=Palearini |first7=Marco |date=1743 |publisher=Romae : Ex typographia Palladis : Excudebant Nicolaus, et Marcus Palearini |others=Getty Research Institute |pages=475–476}}</ref> Johann Gottfried Hering in 1756 in his Compendieuses Church and Heretic Lexicon defined Sabbatati (a sect of the Waldenses) as those who kept the sabbath with the Jews.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hering |first=Johann Gottfried |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OLYAAAAAcAAJ&q=sabbatati |title=Compendieuses Kirchen- und Ketzer-Lexicon: In welchem Alle Ketzereyen und Secten, und deren Urheber und Stiffter, von derer Apostel Zeiten her, wie auch die meisten geistlichen Orden angezeiget und beschrieben, darnebst auch viele zur Kirchen-Historie dienende Termini und Sachen angeführet und erklähret werden |date=1756 |publisher=Fulde |page=537 |language=de}}</ref> In the early Waldenses prose tracts there existed an exposition on the 10 commandments which put forth their own explanation on the 4th commandment which defended sabbath keeping.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Unattributed |url=https://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/concern/works/xw42nf17j?locale=en&fbclid=IwAR3_SiQ6eJ64fb2WRBC9-ksBXf8oR1N29UQXfB_PB8ZTHFRUUF8_SC0MZLE |title=Waldensian prose tracts. IE TCD MS 260 |publisher=Dominique Vigneaux d’’Angrogne |year=1524 |location=France? |pages=f.209 r |language=Latin}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Blair |first=Adam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MtwRAAAAIAAJ |title=History of the Waldenses: With an Introductory Sketch of the History of the Christian Churches in the South of France and North of Italy, Till These Churches Submitted to the Pope, when the Waldenses Continued as Formerly Independent of the Papal See |date=1832 |publisher=A. Black |pages=527 |language=en}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Catholic Encyclopedia |title=Waldenses |url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15527b.htm|access-date=2021-11-05 |via=New Advent}}</ref>

One school of thought attempts to associate [[Vigilantius]] with proto-Waldensians in the European Alps.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mA9gAAAAMAAJ |title=Sketches of the Waldenses |publisher=Religious Tract Society |publication-date=1846 |page=18 |chapter=Accounts of the Waldenses |year=1846 |isbn=978-1-02-236632-9 |quote=[...] returning to the region of the Alps, he [Vigilantius] found a body of Christians like-minded with himself; with these he gladly united, and laboured. |access-date=2 March 2022}}</ref>

=== Catholic response ===

[[File:Champion des dames Vaudoises.JPG|thumb|upright=0.8|right| Illustrations depicting Waldensians as [[Witchcraft|witches]] in ''Le champion des dames'', by Martin Le France, 1451]]
[[File:Piedmontese Children Forced from their parents (October 1853, X, p.108).jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Piedmontese children forced from their parents<ref name="Juvenile1853">{{cite journal|title= Piedmontese Children Forced from their parents|journal= The Wesleyan Juvenile Offering: A Miscellany of Missionary Information for Young Persons|date= October 1853|volume= X|page= 108|url= https://archive.org/details/wesleyanjuvenil19socigoog|access-date= 29 February 2016|publisher= Wesleyan Missionary Society}}</ref>]]

The Catholic Church viewed the Waldensians as unorthodox, and in 1184 at the [[Synod of Verona]], under the auspices of [[Pope Lucius III]], they were excommunicated. [[Pope Innocent III]] went even further during the [[Fourth Lateran Council]] in 1215, officially denouncing the Waldensians as [[heresy|heretics]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Audisio |first1=Gabriel |title= The Waldensian Dissent: Persecution and Survival c. 1170 – c. 1570 |date=1999 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn= 978-0-521-55984-3 |pages=14; 16; 22}}</ref><ref>Compare:
{{cite book
| last1 = Blainey
| first1 = Geoffrey
| author-link1 = Geoffrey Blainey
| title = A Short History of Christianity
| date = 26 October 2011
| url =  https://books.google.com/books?id=DepQXhNVSk4C
| location = Camberwell, Victoria
| publisher = Penguin
| publication-date = 2011
| page = 430
| isbn = 9780857962553
| access-date = 2018-02-17
| quote = The Waldensians eschewed the Cathars, who were busy in the same regions at the same time. While the Cathars were heretics, the Waldensians generally were not. Their real act of defiance was quietly to deny the existence of purgatory.}}</ref> In 1211 more than 80 Waldensians were burned as heretics at [[Strasbourg]]; this action launched several centuries of [[Medieval Inquisition|persecution]] that nearly destroyed the movement.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | last1= Ellwood | first1= R. S. | last2= Alles | first2= G. D. | article= Waldensians |title= The Encyclopedia of World Religions | location= New York |publisher= Facts on File | year= 2007 | isbn= 978-1-4381-1038-7 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=1pGbdI4L0qsC&pg=PA471 | page= 471}}</ref> Waldensians [[Buda heresy|briefly ruled]] Buda, the capital of Hungary from 1304 to 1307. The Waldensians in turn excommunicated [[Pope Benedict XI]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Galambosi |first=Péter |editor1-last=Kádas |editor1-first=István |editor2-last=Skorka |editor2-first=Renáta |editor3-last=Weisz |editor3-first=Boglárka |title=Veretek, utak, katonák. Gazdaságtörténeti tanulmányok a magyar középkorról |publisher=MTA Bölcsészettudományi Kutatóközpont |year=2018 |pages=223–245 |chapter=A budai eretnekmozgalom (1304–1307) |trans-chapter=The Heretical Movement in Buda (1304–1307) |isbn=978-963-416-124-0 |language=hu}}</ref>

In 1487 Pope [[Innocent VIII]] issued a bull<ref>{{cite book|last=Innocent VIII |title=Id nostri cordis |series=Histoire générale des Eglises Evangeliques des Vallées du Piemont ou Vaudoises |volume=2 |page=8|date=1669}}</ref> [[Id Nostri Cordis]] for the extermination of the Vaudois. [[Alberto de' Capitanei]], archdeacon of [[Cremona]], responded to the bull by organizing a crusade to fulfill its order and launched a military offensive in the provinces of [[Dauphiné]] and [[Piedmont]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Baronio |first=Cesare |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qzBQAAAAcAAJ&q=1487+V.Kal |title=Annales ecclesiastici |date=1663 |publisher=Mascardus |language=la}}</ref> [[Charles I, Duke of Savoy]], eventually interfered to save his territories from further turmoil and promised the Vaudois peace, but not before the offensive had devastated the area and many of the Vaudois had fled to [[Provence]] or south to Italy.

The theologian [[Angelo Carletti di Chivasso]], whom Innocent VIII in 1491 appointed Apostolic Nuncio and Commissary conjointly with the [[Bishop of Mauriana]], was involved in reaching a peaceful agreement between Catholics and Waldensians.<ref name=Donovan>
{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01484a.htm |encyclopedia=Catholic Encyclopedia |title=Bl. Angelo Carletti di Chivasso
|access-date= 30 April 2016}}</ref>

=== Reformation ===

When the news of the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]] reached the Waldensian Valleys, the Tavola Valdese decided to seek fellowship with the nascent Protestantism. At a meeting held in 1526 in Laus, a town in the Chisone valley, it was decided to send envoys to examine the new movement. In 1532, they met with German and Swiss Protestants and ultimately adapted their beliefs to those of the Reformed Church.

The Swiss and French Reformed churches sent [[William Farel]] and [[Anthony Saunier]] to attend the meeting of Chanforan, which convened on 12{{nbsp}}October 1532. Farel invited them to join the Reformation and to emerge from secrecy. A Confession of Faith, with Reformed doctrines, was formulated and the Waldensians decided to worship openly in French.

The French Bible, translated by [[Pierre Robert Olivétan]] with the help of [[John Calvin|Calvin]] and published at [[Neuchâtel]] in 1535, was based in part on a New Testament in the Waldensian vernacular. The churches in Waldensia collected 1500 gold crowns to cover the cost of its publication.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wylie |first=J. A. |year=1888 |title=History of the Waldenses |page=62 |publisher=Dalcassian Publishing Company<!--Book title page says Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co.: London, Paris, & New York--> |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TA7UDwAAQBAJ}}</ref>

==== Massacre of Mérindol (1545) ====

{{Main|Massacre of Mérindol}}
[[File:Massacre of the Vaudois of Merindol.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|left|[[Massacre of Mérindol|Massacre of the Mérindol Waldensians]] in 1545]]
Outside the Piedmont, the Waldenses joined the local Protestant churches in Bohemia, France, and Germany. After they came out of seclusion and reports were made of [[sedition]] on their part, French King [[Francis I of France|Francis{{nbsp}}I]] on 1{{nbsp}}January 1545 issued the "Arrêt de Mérindol", and assembled an army against the Waldensians of [[Provence]]. The leaders in the 1545 massacres were [[Jean Maynier d'Oppède]], First President of the [[Parlement of Aix-en-Provence|parliament]] of [[Provence]], and the military commander [[Antoine Escalin des Aimars]], who was returning from the [[Italian Wars]] with 2,000 veterans, the ''Bandes de Piémont''. Deaths in the [[Massacre of Mérindol]] ranged from hundreds to thousands, depending on the estimates, and several villages were devastated.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rvEBMIIcHQkC&pg=PA405|first=R. J.|last=Knecht |year=1984|title=Francis I|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-5212-4344-5|page=405}}</ref>

The treaty of 5 June 1561 granted amnesty to the Protestants of the Valleys, including liberty of conscience and [[freedom of religion|freedom to worship]]. Prisoners were released and fugitives permitted to return home, but despite this treaty, the Vaudois, with the other French Protestants, still suffered during the [[French Wars of Religion]] in 1562–1598.

As early as 1631, Protestant scholars began to regard the Waldensians as early forerunners of the Reformation, in a manner similar to the way the followers of [[John Wycliffe]] and [[Jan Hus]], also persecuted by authorities, were viewed.

Although the Waldensian church was granted some rights and freedoms under French King Henry{{nbsp}}IV, with the [[Edict of Nantes]] in 1598, persecution rose again in the seventeenth{{nbsp}}century, with an extermination of the Waldensians attempted by the Duke of Savoy in 1655. This led to the exodus and dispersion of the Waldensians to other parts of Europe and even to the Western Hemisphere.

==== Piedmont Easter ====
{{main|Piedmontese Easter|Savoyard–Waldensian wars}}
In January 1655, the [[Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy|Duke of Savoy]] commanded the Waldensians to attend Mass or remove to the upper valleys of their homeland, giving them twenty days in which to sell their lands. Being in the midst of winter, the order was intended to persuade the Vaudois to choose the former; however, the bulk of the populace instead chose the latter, abandoning their homes and lands in the lower valleys and removing to the upper valleys. It was written that these targets of persecution, including old men, women, little children and the sick "waded through the icy waters, climbed the frozen peaks, and at length reached the homes of their impoverished brethren of the upper Valleys, where they were warmly received."<ref name="McCabe1874">{{cite book|author=James Dabney McCabe|title=Cross and crown: or, The sufferings and triumphs of the heroic men and women who were persecuted for the religion of Jesus Christ|url=https://archive.org/details/crosscrownorsuf00mcca|access-date=16 November 2018|year=1874|publisher=National Pub. Co.|page=[https://archive.org/details/crosscrownorsuf00mcca/page/66 66]}}</ref>

By mid-April, when it became clear that the Duke's efforts to force the Vaudois to conform to Catholicism had failed, he tried another approach. Under the guise of false reports of Vaudois uprisings, the Duke sent troops into the upper valleys to quell the local populace. He required that the local populace quarter the troops in their homes, which the local populace complied with. But the quartering order was a ruse to allow the troops easy access to the populace. On 24{{nbsp}}April 1655, at 4{{nbsp}}a.m., the signal was given for a general massacre.

[[File:AnnaCharboniereTortured.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Print illustrating the 1655 massacre in La Torre, from [[Samuel Moreland]]'s ''History of the Evangelical Churches of the Valleys of Piedmont'', published in London in 1658]]

The Duke's forces did not simply slaughter the inhabitants. They are reported to have unleashed an unprovoked campaign of looting, rape, torture, and murder. According to one report by a Peter Liegé:

{{blockquote|Little children were torn from the arms of their mothers, clasped by their tiny feet, and their heads dashed against the rocks; or were held between two soldiers and their quivering limbs torn up by main force. Their mangled bodies were then thrown on the highways or fields, to be devoured by beasts. The sick and the aged were burned alive in their dwellings. Some had their hands and arms and legs lopped off, and fire applied to the severed parts to staunch the bleeding and prolong their suffering. Some were flayed alive, some were roasted alive, some disemboweled; or tied to trees in their own orchards, and their hearts cut out. Some were horribly mutilated, and of others the brains were boiled and eaten by these [[Human cannibalism|cannibals]]. Some were fastened down into the furrows of their own fields, and ploughed into the soil as men plough manure into it. Others were buried alive. Fathers were marched to death with the heads of their sons suspended round their necks. Parents were compelled to look on while their children were first outraged [raped], then massacred, before being themselves permitted to die.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9MCVNUFB7GQC&pg=PA132 |title=History of the Waldenses |first=J. A. |last=Wylie |author-link=James Aitken Wylie |page=132 |publisher=Hartland |isbn=9780923309305 |year=1996|orig-year=1860}}{{dead link|date=December 2022}}</ref>}}

This massacre became known as the Piedmont Easter. An estimate of some 1,700 Waldensians were slaughtered; the massacre was so brutal it aroused indignation throughout Europe. Protestant rulers in northern Europe offered sanctuary to the remaining Waldensians. [[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. The massacre prompted [[John Milton]]'s poem on the Waldenses, "[[On the Late Massacre in Piedmont]]".<ref>{{cite web |title=Milton: Sonnet 18 |publisher=Dartmouth.edu |url=http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/sonnets/sonnet_18/index.shtml |access-date=26 February 2014 |archive-date=25 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725142232/http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Emilton/reading_room/sonnets/sonnet_18/index.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref> Swiss and Dutch Calvinists set up an "underground railroad" to bring many of the survivors north to Switzerland and even as far as the Dutch Republic, where the councillors of the city of Amsterdam chartered three ships to take some 167 Waldensians to their City Colony in the New World (Delaware) on Christmas Day 1656.<ref>Scharf, Thomas J. (1888), ''History of Delaware, 1609–1888'', L. J. Richards & Co., Philadelphia [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_IGk3AQAAMAAJ Vol. 1] [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_IGk3AQAAMAAJ Vol. 2]</ref> Those that stayed behind in France and the Piedmont formed a guerilla resistance movement led by a farmer, [[Joshua Janavel]], which lasted into the 1660s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.regard.eu.org/Livres.11/Janavel/ |title=Janavel |publisher=Regard.eu.org |access-date=26 February 2014}}</ref>

[[File:Chiesa valdese (Trinity church) 2.JPG|thumb|upright=0.8|left|Waldensian Church of Florence, Italy]]

=== Revocation of the Edict of Nantes and the "Glorious Return" ===

In 1685 [[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]] revoked the 1598 [[Edict of Nantes]], which had guaranteed freedom of religion to his Protestant subjects in France. French troops sent into the French Waldensian areas of the Chisone and Susa Valleys in the [[Dauphiné]] forced 8,000 Vaudois to convert to Catholicism and another 3,000 to leave for Germany.

In the Piedmont, the cousin of Louis, the newly ascended [[Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia|Duke of Savoy, Victor Amadeus II]], followed his uncle in removing the protection of Protestants in the [[Piedmont]]. In the renewed persecution, and in an echo of the Piedmont Easter Massacre of only three decades earlier, the Duke issued an edict on 31 January 1686 that decreed the destruction of all the Vaudois churches and that all inhabitants of the Valleys should publicly announce their error in religion within fifteen days under penalty of death and banishment. But the Vaudois remained resistant. After the fifteen days, an army of 9,000 French and Piedmontese soldiers invaded the Valleys against the estimated 2,500 Vaudois, but found that every village had organized a defense force that kept the French and Piedmontese soldiers at bay.

On 9 April, the Duke of Savoy issued a new edict, enjoining the Waldensians to put down their arms within eight days and go into exile between 21 and 23{{nbsp}}April. If able, they were free to sell their land and possessions to the highest bidder.

Waldensian pastor [[Henri Arnaud (pastor)|Henri Arnaud]] (1641–1721), who had been driven out of the Piedmont in the earlier purges, returned from Holland. On 18 April he made a stirring appeal before an assembly at Roccapiatta, winning over the majority in favor of armed resistance. When the truce expired on 20{{nbsp}}April, the Waldensians were prepared for battle.

They put up a brave fight over the next six weeks, but by the time the Duke retired to Turin on 8 June, the war seemed decided: 2,000 Waldensians had been killed; another 2,000 had "accepted" the Catholic theology of the Council of Trent. Another 8,000 had been imprisoned, more than half of whom died of deliberately imposed starvation, or of sickness within six months.

But about two or three hundred Vaudois fled to the hills and began carrying out a guerilla war over the next year against the Catholic settlers who arrived to take over the Vaudois lands. These "Invincibles" continued their assaults until the Duke finally relented and agreed to negotiate. The "Invincibles" won the right for the imprisoned Vaudois to be released from prison and to be provided safe passage to Geneva. But the Duke, granting that permission on 3{{nbsp}}January 1687, required that the Vaudois leave immediately or convert to Catholicism. This edict led to some 2,800 Vaudois leaving the Piedmont for Geneva, of whom only 2,490 survived the journey.

Arnaud and others now sought help of the allied European powers. He appealed to [[William III of England|William of Orange]] directly from Geneva, while others, amongst whom was the young [[René de Saunière de l'Hermitage|L'Hermitage]], were sent to England and other lands to canvas for support. Orange and the allies were glad of any excuse to antagonise France, whose territorial encroachments on all fronts were intolerable. The [[League of Augsburg]] was formed in 1686 under Orange, who promised support to Arnaud. In August 1689, in the midst of the wars between the League of Augsburg and France, Arnaud led 1,000 Swiss exiles, armed with modern weaponry provided by the Dutch, back to the Piedmont. Over a third of the force perished during the 130-mile trek. They successfully re-established their presence in the Piedmont and drove out the Catholic settlers, but they continued to be besieged by French and Piedmontese troops.

By 2 May 1689, with only 300 Waldensian troops remaining, and cornered on a high peak called the [[Balsiglia]], by 4,000 French troops with cannons, the final assault was delayed by storm and then by cloud cover. The French commander was so confident of completing his job the next morning that he sent a message to Paris that the Waldensian force had already been destroyed. 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 French pursued, but only a few days later a sudden change of political alliance by the Duke, from France to the League of Augsburg, ended the French pursuit of the Waldensians. 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".<ref>Stephens, Prescot (1998), ''The Waldensian Story: A Study in Faith, Intolerance and Survival'', Lewes, Sussex: Book Guild, {{ISBN|978-1-8577-6280-8}}</ref>

=== Religious freedom after the French Revolution ===

[[File:Iscrizione tempio valdese 4 novembre Roma.jpg|thumb|left|Waldensian Church entrance in Rome, Italy]]
After the [[French Revolution]], the Waldenses of Piedmont were assured liberty of conscience and, in 1848, the ruler of Savoy, King [[Charles Albert of Sardinia]], granted them civil rights.

Enjoying religious freedom, the Waldensians began migrating outside their valleys. By the time of [[Italian unification]], the Waldensian had congregations throughout the peninsula, some originated by preaching, others by migration.<ref>Giorgio Spini (1971), ''L'Evangelo e il berretto frigio'' (Storia del movimento evangelico in Italia, Vol.{{nbsp}}I), Claudiana, Turin</ref> However, poverty, societal discrimination, and demographic pressure led the Waldensians to emigrate, first as seasonal workers to the French Riviera and Switzerland, and later to [[Colonia Valdense]] in Uruguay, [[Jacinto Aráuz]] in [[La Pampa Province|La Pampa]], [[Argentina]] and ultimately, to the United States.<ref>Watt, George B. (1941), ''Waldenses in the New World'', Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press</ref> Those who remained in Italy have experienced upward social mobility. Waldensian companies dominated Turin's chocolate industry for the latter half of the nineteenth century and are generally credited with the invention of [[Gianduja (chocolate)|gianduja]] (hazelnut chocolate).<ref>Bächstädt-Malan Camusso, Christian (2002), "Per Una Storia dell'Industria Dolciaria Torinese: il Caso Caffarel", p.{{nbsp}}63, Doctoral thesis (Economics and Business), Universitá degli Studi di Torino</ref>

Waldensian scholarship also flourished in the nineteenth century. Copies of the [[Occitan language|Romaunt]] version of the [[Gospel of John]] were preserved in Paris and Dublin. The manuscripts were used as the basis of a work by [[William Stephen Gilly]] published in 1848, in which he described the history of the New Testament in use by the Waldensians.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gilly |first=William Stephen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NurxD-25FMYC |title=The Romaunt Version of the Gospel According to St. John... with an Introductory History of the Version of the New Testament, Anciently in Use Among the Old Waldenses... |date=1848 |publisher=J. Murray |publication-place=London |language=en}}</ref> The Waldensian College began training ministers in 1855, first in [[Torre Pellice]]. A few years later, the Waldensian College relocated to [[Florence]] and, in 1922, to Rome. Economic and social integration have eased acceptance of ethnic Waldensians into Italian society.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022|reason=Are there any sources for Waldensians being an ethnoreligious group?}} Writers like [[Italo Calvino]] and politicians like [[Domenico Maselli]] and [[Valdo Spini]] are of Waldensian background. The church has also attracted intellectuals as new adherents and supporters and enjoys significant financial support from non-adherent Italians.

In 2015, after a historic visit to a Waldensian Temple in [[Turin]], [[Pope Francis]], in the name of the Catholic Church, asked Waldensian Christians for forgiveness for their persecution. The Pope apologized for the Church's "un-Christian and even inhumane positions and actions".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-06-22 |title=Francis asks forgiveness for Waldensian persecutions, killings |url=https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/francis-asks-forgiveness-waldensian-persecutions-killings |access-date=2021-02-14 |website=National Catholic Reporter |language=en}}</ref>

=== Characteristics of the modern Waldensian Church ===

{{Further|Calvinism}}
The present Waldensian Church considers itself to be a Protestant church of the Reformed tradition originally framed by [[Huldrych Zwingli]] and [[John Calvin]].<ref name="CE" /> It recognizes as its doctrinal standard the confession of faith published in 1655 and based on the Reformed confession of 1559. It admits only two ceremonies, baptism and the Lord's Supper.<ref name="CE" /> Supreme authority in the body is exercised by an annual synod, and the affairs of the individual congregations are administered by a [[Consistory (Protestantism)#Reformed usage|consistory]] under the presidency of the pastor.<ref name="CE" />

Over the centuries, Waldensian churches have been established in countries as far away from France as Uruguay and the United States where the active Waldensian congregations continue the purpose of the Waldensian movement. The contemporary and historic Waldensian spiritual heritage describes itself as proclaiming the Gospel, serving the marginalized, promoting social justice, fostering inter-religious work, and advocating respect for religious diversity and freedom of conscience.<ref name="waldensian.org" /> Today, the Waldensian Church is member of the [[World Communion of Reformed Churches]], the [[World Methodist Council]], the [[Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy]], and the [[World Council of Churches]].

=== Influence ===
The Waldensians were influences to the [[Zwickau prophets|Zwickau Prophets]] who came out in support of believer's baptism.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brackney |first=William H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YhUvxfkWW2oC&dq=Taborites+believer%27s+baptism&pg=PA332 |title=Historical Dictionary of Radical Christianity |date=2012-05-03 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-7365-0 |language=en}}</ref> The Waldensians also influenced some in the [[Bohemian Reformation|Bohemian reformation]], especially [[Petr Chelčický]].<ref name="David">{{Cite book |last=David |first=Zdeněk V. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QYyyZl9baKQC&dq=Waldensians+Petr+Chel%C4%8Dick%C3%BD&pg=PA24 |title=Finding the Middle Way: The Utraquists' Liberal Challenge to Rome and Luther |date=2003-07-29 |publisher=Woodrow Wilson Center Press |isbn=978-0-8018-7382-9 |language=en}}</ref> Petr Chelčický was influenced by the Waldensians very early in his life, as there existed Waldensian congregations in the area of his birth.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brock |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HlR9BgAAQBAJ&dq=Waldensians+Petr+Chel%C4%8Dick%C3%BD&pg=PA33 |title=Pacifism in Europe to 1914 |date=2015-03-08 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-6749-3 |language=en}}</ref>

However, on the other hand, some Hussites rejected Waldensian doctrines, including [[Jacob of Mies|Jacob of Miles]].<ref name="David"/>