Peter Waldo (1140? - 1218?)

Peter Waldo, or Valdez, was a wealthy merchant of Lyon. After his conversion to Christianity, he was determined to use the remainder of his life in the Lord's service. He provided his wife with an adequate income and gave the rest of his estate to the poor. In his own words:

"Friends, fellow townsmen, I am not out of my mind, as you may think. Rather, I am avenging myself upon these enemies of my life who have enslaved me, so that I cared more for gold pieces than for God and served the creature more than the Creator."

He hired two priests to translate the the New Testament into the common language, as well as parts of the Old. He taught in the streets and wherever he could find a listening ear and lived by begging. He sent his followers out in pairs, into villages and market places, to teach and explain the scriptures. They were known as the "Shooed". They referred to themselves as the Poor Ones, or the Poor in Spirit.

At first the Catholic Church approved of Waldo's vow of poverty, but ordered him not to preach. Waldo and his followers bravely continued anyway, following the example of Peter in the book of Acts. Pope Lucius III responded by condemning the Waldensians as heretics in 1184. They were viciously persecuted by the Inquisition and many were burned at the stake.

However, the movement continued and spread right up until the Reformation. It was during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that the worst of the persecution was felt. For example, in 1569 in the Calabrian area of Italy, some two thousand Waldensians were executed by Spanish troops in eleven days.

Today, approximately thirty thousand Waldensians live in Italy, with settlements in North and South America as well.

Medieval Source Book

Theological Perspectives of the Reformation

Christian History Institute

Reformed Online

Also see, The Believer's Church, by Donal F. Durnbaugh, pages 40-51.