The Waldenses​—From Heresy to Protestantism

It was the year 1545 in the beautiful Lubéron region of Provence, southern France. An army had assembled to carry out a terrible mission inspired by religious intolerance. A week of bloodshed ensued.

VILLAGES were razed, and inhabitants were imprisoned or killed. Cruel atrocities were perpetrated by brutal soldiers in a massacre that caused Europe to shudder. Some 2,700 men met death, and 600 were sent to work on the galleys, not to speak of the suffering experienced by women and children. The military commander who carried out this sanguinary campaign was lauded by the French king and by the pope.

The Reformation had already torn Germany apart when Catholic King Francis I of France, concerned about the spread of Protestantism, made inquiries about so-called heretics in his kingdom. Instead of finding a few isolated cases of heresy, authorities in Provence discovered whole villages of religious dissidents. The edict to wipe out this heresy was passed and was eventually carried out in the massacre of 1545.

From Catholics to Heretics

In those days, preaching was restricted to the clergy, and the church assumed the right to grant authority to preach. The clergy considered the Waldenses ignorant and illiterate, but in 1179, Vaudès sought official authorization for his preaching from Pope Alexander III. Permission was given​—but on the condition that the local priests approve. Historian Malcolm Lambert notes that this “was the near-equivalent of total refusal.” Indeed, Archbishop Jean Bellesmains of Lyons formally forbade lay preaching. Vaudès responded by quoting Acts 5:29: “We must obey God as ruler rather than men.” Failing to comply with the ban, Vaudès was excommunicated from the church in 1184.

Although the Waldenses were banished from the diocese of Lyons and hounded out of the city, it seems that the initial condemnation was to some extent theoretical. Many ordinary people admired the Waldenses for their sincerity and way of life, and even bishops continued to speak with them.

According to historian Euan Cameron, it appears that the Waldensian preachers did not “oppose the Roman Church simply for the sake of it.” They merely “wished to preach and teach.” Historians say that the movement was virtually driven into heresy by a series of decrees that progressively and lastingly marginalized them. Church condemnations culminated in the anathema that the Fourth Lateran Council issued against the Waldenses in 1215. How did this affect their preaching?

They Go Underground

Vaudès died in the year 1217, and persecution dispersed his followers into the French Alpine valleys, Germany, northern Italy, and Central and Eastern Europe. Persecution also caused the Waldenses to settle in the rurals, and this limited their preaching activities in many areas.

In 1229 the Catholic Church completed its Crusade against the Cathari, or Albigenses, in the south of France.c The Waldenses next became objects of such efforts. The Inquisition would soon be turned mercilessly against all the church’s opponents. Fear caused the Waldenses to go underground. By 1230 they no longer preached in public. Audisio explains: “Rather than going to seek new sheep . . . , they devoted themselves to looking after the converted, maintaining them in their faith in the face of outside pressure and persecution.” He adds that “preaching remained essential but had completely changed in practice.”

As persecution by the Catholic Church continued, large numbers of Waldenses settled in the safer Provence region of southern France, as did Protestant immigrants. Authorities were soon alerted to this immigration. Despite many positive reports about the life-style and morals of the Waldenses, some people questioned their loyalty and accused them of being a threat to good order. The Mérindol edict was issued, resulting in the horrible bloodshed mentioned at the beginning of this article.

Relations between the Catholics and the Waldenses continued to deteriorate. In response to attacks launched against them, the Waldenses even resorted to armed force to defend themselves. This conflict pushed them into the Protestant fold.