Waldenses
Waldenses, or Waldensians (in French, Vaudois),the adherents of a religious sect which originated in the south of France about 1170 through the preaching of Peter Waldo, a rich merchant of Lyons. They rejected the authority of the pope and various rites, and were excommunicated in 1184 and subjected to persecution. But they survived and eventually became a separately organized church, which associated itself with the Protestant Reformation of the 16th cent. and still exists, chiefly in northern Italy and the adjacent regions. Their persecution by the duke of Savoy in 1655 led to Milton 's sonnet, ‘Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints’, and caused Cromwell to insist on his new ally, France, putting an instant stop to the massacre.
[The entire page is 122 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Oxford University Press Titles
