The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1

VI. Evidences for Earlier Roots in Italy

Let us examine some of the “bits of scattered evidence” which point to roots earlier than Waldo for the Italian branch of the Waldenses. The Poor Men of Lombardy show distinct signs of being more than a mere offshoot of the Poor Men of Lyons. Their differences are noteworthy. PFF1 948.2

1. ITALIAN WALDENSES MORE EVANGELICAL THAN FRENCH

The Italian Waldenses, and the German Waldenses, who seem to have been closely connected with them, were much more evangelical and more anti-Roman, with characteristics which would more likely be derived from the earlier line of evangelical dissent than from Waldo’s Poor Men of Lyons. PFF1 948.3

They came, as we have seen, to hold eventually that the church based on a corrupt priesthood was not the church at all; that Rome was the apocalyptic Beast, Harlot, et cetera. PFF1 948.4

The Rescriptum shows that the Lombard Waldenses rejected, while the French accepted, sacraments from an unworthy priest; the French preferred celibate evangelism to marriage, whereas among the Lombards a husband could not undertake such celibacy without the spouse’s consent. The Lombards wanted recognition of “congregations of workmen,” which the French opposed, possibly because the latter did not engage in any labor; the French seemed to revere Waldo more than did the Lombards; the Lombards were nearer the Protestant position, and moved further in that direction as time passed. Gebhart says that the Italian Waldenses separated themselves more from the church than the French, but were more tolerant as to the profession of absolute poverty; they called themselves the “Humiliated.” ⁵¹ PFF1 948.5

2. OLDER TRADITION OF DISSENT

In north Italy, as we have seen, there had long been a spirit of independence and dissent, for which the Waldenses showed affinities. PFF1 948.6

“Nowhere was this changing, critical spirit more evident than in Lombardy, ever restive under assertions of papal power, ever a fertile field for freedom either religious or political, ever a comfortable abiding-place for heretics. For more than two centuries the seed had been sown, first by one group and then by another.... So in this region a number of religious associations, seeking evangelical poverty, sprang up after 1150, one and all appealing to the ideals of the primitive Church and to the simplicity of life prescribed by Christ.... Possibly the impulse was but the aftermath of Patarini and Arnoldisti in their midst, whose evangelical austerity, denunciation of tithes and clerical luxury bore evident fruit in this Lombard plain, particularly among the lower clergy.” ⁵² PFF1 948.7

3. WALDENSES JOINED OLDER DISSENTERS

The source materials show that the followers of Peter Waldo spread into Lombardy, mingling with other “heretics” already there, and absorbing and propagating these older teachings. PFF1 948.8

“We have decisive proof that the followers of Peter Waldo entered into relations of some kind with some evangelical party in Lombardy.... From this document [the Rescriptum Haeresiarcharum] it is evident that some time before the Waldenses had formed a more or less closely cemented union with an evangelical party that they found already in Italy.” ⁵³ PFF1 949.1

“The preservation of the Rescript by the Passau Anonymous indicates the close relationship of the Passau ‘Leonists’ of 1260 with the Italian Poor Men of the ‘Rescript’” ⁵⁴ PFF1 949.2

Even the contemporary Catholics who were taunting the Waldenses with their recent origin admitted that there were older elements. Stephen of Bourbon, in his tracts on the seven gifts of the Spirit, speaks of Waldo’s Poor Men as “afterwards in the land of Provence and Lombardy, mingling themselves with other heretics and imbibing and sowing their error.” ⁵⁵ And these were older heresies, according to other accounts. Says an Inquisition record: PFF1 949.3

“Excommunicated [by the Archbishop of Lyons, the Waldenses] were expelled from that city and country. Thus multiplied over the land, they dispersed themselves through that province and through the neighboring regions and the borders of Lombardy, and cut off from the church, mingling themselves with other heretics and imbibing their errors, they mixed with their own inventions the errors and heresies of ancient heretics.” ⁵⁶ PFF1 949.4

David of Augsburg likewise says: PFF1 949.5

“They were given over to Satan, they were precipitated thence into innumerable errors and mingled the errors of the ancient heretics with their own inventions.” ⁵⁷ PFF1 949.6

This fusion, now generally recognized among authorities, is evidently the basis for the tradition of pre-Waldo derivation. PFF1 949.7

Peter Waldo and his followers “formed a centre around which gathered the Arnoldisti and the Humiliati of Italy, the Petrobrusians and Albigensians of France, and perhaps the Apostolics of the Rhine Valley. The sect resulting from the fusion of these elements, so strong that the whole force of the Church did not avail to crush it, mirrors the trend of the twelfth-century movement for evangelical poverty. From the beginning the Waldensians were better known than were most of their contemporaries.” ⁵⁸ PFF1 949.8

“Some claimed Claude, Bishop of Turin (822-839), as their founder; others held that they were the successors of a small group of good men who had protested against the degradation of the Church in the days of Sylvester and Constantine. Later historians think the nucleus of the Italian Waldensians was the False Humiliati, while still others have connected them with the followers of Arnold of Brescia. It is certain, at all events, that the later Waldensians of Piedmont were a fusion of various sects and that they were a formidable group.” ⁵⁹ PFF1 949.9

4. ITALIAN SOURCE OF ANTIQUITY TRADITION

It is in Italy and Austria, rather than in France, that the Waldensian tradition of antiquity is principally found. Moneta of Cremona, Salvus Burce of Piacenza, the Inquisitor of Passau, Austria, and Pilichdorf of Vienna all refer to the tradition, either directly or by implication. ⁶⁰ The Waldensian statement of this claim is given in a letter from the Poor Men of Lombardy to brethren in Germany. After telling of the church’s departure from apostolic principles through Sylvester’s acceptance of the supposed Donation of Constantine, and of the exile of the faithful few who retained their profession of poverty, the letter continues: PFF1 949.10

“When the servants of Christ seemed to have disappeared because of persecution, a man was raised up. He was named Peter of Val, ... he was not the founder, but the reformer of our order.” ⁶¹ PFF1 950.1

5. SOURCE REFERENCES EQUATING WALDENSES WITH OLDER GROUPS

We find this fusion of Waldo’s followers with older heretics attested by the statements of contemporaries identifying the sect with older names. PFF1 950.2

The first papal decree against them was the bull Ad Abolendam of Lucius III at the Council of Verona: PFF1 950.3

“By the present decree we condemn all heresies; therefore we first anathematize the Cathari and the Patarins, as well as those who conceal themselves under the name of Humiliati or Poor of Lyons, the Passagins, Josephites, and Arnaldists.” ⁶² PFF1 950.4

Burchard of Ursperg referred to this when he said: PFF1 950.5

“Formerly two sects, rising in Italy, continue until the present, one of which calls itself the Humiliati, the other the Poor Men of Lyons, whom Pope Lucius once inscribed among the heretics.” ⁶³ PFF1 950.6

It is noteworthy that Burchard ascribes the place of origin as Italy. This would imply that the Italian branch was the older. David of Augsburg makes a multiple identification. PFF1 950.7

“The Poor Men of Lyons and the Ortidiebarii and Arnostuste [the Arnold-ists] and the Runcharii and the Waldenses and others are said to have been formerly one sect.” ⁶⁴ PFF1 950.8

6. INDICATIONS OF AFFINITY WITH EARLIER GROUPS

Waldo’s Poor Men of Lyons are said to have mingled with older heretics in Italy, and some of them have been named. Do the teachings of the Waldenses in Italy show any affinities with the teachings of any older heretics? The following list will show that various doctrines and practices of the Italian and Austrian Waldenses reflect the background of earlier dissenters in northern Italy and neighboring territory who taught similar doctrines: PFF1 950.9

(1) Workingmen’s congregations—Humiliati. PFF1 950.10

(2) Lay family life and property—Humiliati. PFF1 950.11

(3) Aversion to oaths—Humiliati. PFF1 950.12

(4) Apostolic ideal—Humiliati, Arnold of Brescia, Peter de Bruys. PFF1 951.1

(5) Unorthodox views on baptism—Arnold, Peter, and Henry. PFF1 951.2

(6) Unorthodox views on the sacraments—Arnold, Peter, and Henry. PFF1 951.3

(7) Reaction against wealth of church—Humiliati, Arnold. PFF1 951.4

(8) Exaltation of the Scriptures—Claudius of Turin, Peter, and Henry. PFF1 951.5

(9) Pious and simple lives—Humiliati, Arnold, Peter, and Henry. PFF1 951.6

(10) Aversion to the veneration of the cross—Peter, Henry, and Claudius. PFF1 951.7

(11) Aversion to images—Peter, Henry, and Claudius. PFF1 951.8

(12) Rejection of prayers for dead—Peter, Henry, and Claudius. PFF1 951.9

(13) Lack of dependence on church buildings for true worship—Peter and Henry. PFF1 951.10

(14) Disregard for church fasts and holy days—Peter and Henry. PFF1 951.11

(15) Direct relation of believer to God—Claudius. PFF1 951.12

(16) Aversion to saint worship—Peter, Henry, and Claudius. ⁶⁵ PFF1 951.13