Waldenses: Rejections of Holy Church in Medieval Europe

This book provides the first full single–volume scholarly account in English of the "Waldenses" and examination of the concept of "Waldensianism" from the late 12th century to the Reformation. "Waldenses" is the name given to diverse and widely–scattered groups of religious dissenters since the time of the movement′s reputed founder, a rich citizen of Lyon called Valdesius, in the late twelfth century. Though living within the culture of the Catholic Church, these people doubted the holiness of its priesthood and questioned its teachings about the destiny of souls after death.

The various strands of this movement emerged and endured over a long period of time. In consequence some earlier historians assumed, rather than demonstrated, that ′Waldensian′ heresy remained one coherent phenomenon throughout its life–span. They also tended to neglect some of the transient or ′untypical′ aspects of the movement.

This new book draws on primary sources to consider each of the manifestations of the movement in turn. It examines connections in space and time through correspondence and tradition between the different groups of Waldenses. It also asks what were the common threads in certain characteristics of religious practice, linking in differing degrees all the forms that the movement took.

List of Plates viii

List of Maps ix

Preface x

Introduction 1

Waldenses and the Catholic Church 2

The Changing Shape of the Sources 3

Some Questions Arising 5

Part I The First Phase

1 Before Heresy: Valdesius and the Poor Brethren at Lyon to 1184 11

2 Disobedient Preachers, 1184–c.1210 23

3 The Lombard Poor in Spirit , c.1205–1240 36

4 The Reconciliations with Rome, 1208–1212 49

Part II The Age of Inquisition, Thirteenth to fifteenth Centuries

Introduction: The impact of Organized Inquisitorial Activity 63

5 Waldenses in Occitan France, c.1220–1320 70

6 Germany and Eastern Europe 96

7 The Southwestern Alps 151

Part III The Alpine Waldenses Confront the Reformation

Introduction: The End of Heresy? 209

8 The Alpine Barbes and their Culture, c.1520–1530 211

9 The Encounters of 1530–1532 and their Outcomes 232

10 Calvin s Geneva takes over in Piedmont, 1555–1565 264

Epilogue: The Waldenses as Persecuted Martyrs and the True Church 285

Conclusions and Reflections 297

Bibliography 304

Index 319

Euan Cameron is Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. He is author of The European Reformation (1991) and editor of Early Modern Europe: An Oxford History (1999) and has published a number of journal articles on heresy and the Reformation. His first book on Waldensian heresy, The Reformation of the Heretics, was published in 1984.

"... exemplary in its clarity and comprehensiveness and will easily count as the standard treatment in the subject for years to come." Times Literary Supplement <!––end––>

"[Cameron′s] command of the difficult and controversial evidence is masterly throughout this study, and his grasp of the ideas which formed the movement, and the different approaches of the new Protestantism, is outstanding. This book will provide a starting–point for future study of the Waldenses." Journal of Theological Studies

"A scholarly account ranging from the late twelfth century to the Reformation..." Missiology: An International Review

"Waldenses is a lucid, nuanced, and intelligent assesment of the history of this diverse group of medieval dissenters.... Cameron′s assesments are penetraing and sound... [the book] should find its way onto the bookshelves of many scholars and students interested in medieval religious cultures." Shannon McSheffrey, Concordia University