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The Catholic Church called for the Waldensian massacres.

Introduction

This is a summary of primarily the following Wikipedia articles:

Our knowledge of the medieval history of the Waldensians comes almost exclusively from the records of the Roman Catholic Church, the same organization that condemned them as heretics and persecuted them fiercely.

The Waldensians were an ascetic movement within Christianity, reputedly founded in Lyon around 1173. (Lyon is the third-largest city and second-largest urban area of France.) This movement quickly spread to areas that are part of France and Italy today.

Summary

The Waldensians were characterized by lay preaching, voluntary poverty, and strict adherence to the Bible. They were critical of Catholic beliefs and identified the Catholic Church as the harlot of the Book of Revelation.

The Catholic Church declared the Waldensians heretical. In 1487 Pope Innocent VIII issued the Bull of Extermination against the Waldensians, which called all to destroy the Waldensians in any way possible, absolving all who perpetrate such crimes.

The Waldensians found reformers’ ideas similar to theirs and quickly merged into the larger Protestant movement. But the Waldensians were still fiercely persecuted, for example, in the Massacre of Mérindol in 1545.

In 1655 the soldiers of the Duke of Savoy did not simply slaughter the Waldensian; they looted, raped, and tortured. This became known as the Piedmont Easter massacre, and was caused by constant pressure exerted by the Council of Propagation of the Faith and the Extermination of Heresy, an institution of the Roman Catholic Church; established in Turin in 1650.

In 1685, King Louis XIV of France began to purge his territory of Waldensians. French troops forced 8,000 to convert to Catholicism, killed about 2,000 Waldensians, and incarcerated about 8,500 in several fortresses. The government confiscated Waldensian properties and the valleys were resettled by Catholic subjects.

Such persecutions continued intermittently until the French Revolution when the Waldenses were assured liberty of conscience.

Waldensian Beliefs

Waldensian symbol – A light shines in the darkness

The Waldensians translated the New Testament into their language. The French Bible, translated in 1535, was partly based on this Waldensian translation.

They rejected several beliefs widely held in Christian Europe of the era. For example, the Waldensians held that:

- Temporal offices were not meant for preachers of the Gospel,
- Relics were no different from any other bones and should not be regarded as special or holy,
- Pilgrimages served only to spend hard-earned money,
- Holy water was no more efficacious than rainwater, and that
- Prayer was just as effectual if offered in a church or a barn.
- They scoffed at the doctrine of transubstantiation.

They spoke of the Catholic Church as the harlot of the Apocalypse (Babylon) and identified the Papacy as the Antichrist.

Catholic Response

The Catholic Church excommunicated them in 1180 and forced them from Lyon. By 1215, the Catholic Church declared them heretical and subjected them to intense persecution.

Illustrations depicting Waldensians as witches in Le champion des dames, by Martin Le France, 1451 — Waldensians depicted as witches

In 1487 Pope Innocent VIII issued the Bull of Extermination against the Vaudois (Waldensians – see the book Israel of the Alps-chapter II), in which he called all rulers of nations to take up arms for their destruction. He summoned all Catholics to a crusade against them, absolved all who should take part in this crusade from all ecclesiastical penalties, legitimized their possession of goods that they might have stolen, and promised the remission of all sins to everyone who should kill a heretic. Moreover, he annulled all contracts with the “Vaudois, commanded their domestics to abandon them, forbade anyone to give them any assistance, and authorized all and sundry to seize upon their goods.”

Joined the Reformation

The Waldensians found the Reformers’ ideas similar to theirs and quickly merged into the larger Protestant movement. In 1532, they formally became a part of the Calvinist tradition. Some Protestant scholars regard the Waldensians as early forerunners of the Reformation, similar to the followers of John Wycliffe and Jan Hus, who had maintained the apostolic faith in the face of Catholic oppression and were also persecuted for it.

Sixteenth Century

The Massacre of Mérindol took place in 1545 when Francis I of France ordered the Waldensians of the village of Mérindol to be punished for dissident religious activities. Provençal and Papal soldiers killed hundreds or even thousands of Waldensian villagers.

In 1560, Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy ordered all Protestants in his domain to revert to Catholicism. The Waldensians petitioned him, saying they had always stayed loyal to him and that their religion was the same as Jesus Christ originally taught.

The duke’s noblemen were Catholic while the Waldensians were peasants. Tensions rose and eventually escalated to violence from 4 April to 5 July 1560.

Charles Emmanuel II

In the 17th century, the Duke of Savoy attempted to exterminate the Waldensians. This led to the exodus and dispersion of the Waldensians to other parts of Europe. (Savoy is a region in Europe. It was annexed to France in 1792.)

The Savoyard–Waldensian Wars were a series of conflicts between the Waldensians and the Savoyard troops from 1655 to 1690 (The Savoyard state is a name used by historians to denote collectively all of the states ruled by the counts and dukes of Savoy.) The Savoyard–Waldensian Wars were largely persecutions of Waldensians, rather than a military conflict. The Waldensians were nearly annihilated. In summary:

In January 1655, Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy commanded the Waldensians to attend Mass or move to the upper valleys of their homeland. Since this was in the midst of winter, the order was intended to persuade the Waldensians to become Catholics. However, most of the populace abandoned their homes in the lower valleys. They “waded through the icy waters, climbed the frozen peaks, and at length reached the homes of their impoverished brethren of the upper Valleys, where they were warmly received.”

By mid-April 1655, the Duke sent troops into the upper valleys. The Duke’s forces did not simply slaughter the inhabitants. They are reported to have unleashed an unprovoked campaign of looting, rape, and torture.

According to a report by Peter Liegé:

Little children were torn from the arms of their mothers and their heads dashed against the rocks. Mangled bodies were thrown on the highways or fields, to be devoured by beasts. The sick and the aged were burned alive in their dwellings. Some had their hands and arms and legs lopped off, and fire applied to the severed parts to staunch the bleeding and prolong their suffering. Some were roasted alive, some disemboweled; or tied to trees and their hearts cut out. Others were buried alive. Parents were compelled to look on while their children were first raped, then massacred, before being themselves permitted to die. (Wylie, J. A. (1996) [1860]. History of the Waldenses. Hartland. p. 132. ISBN 9780923309305)

This massacre became known as the Piedmont Easter.

Alexis Muston, a 19th-century French Protestant pastor based in Bordeaux, claimed in L’Israel des Alpes (Israel of the Alps – Paris 1852) that neither Duke Charles Emmanuel II of Savoy nor the Waldensians themselves had sought to wage war and that both parties were content to maintain the peace. These atrocities were committed due to the constant pressure exerted by the New Council of Propagation of the Faith and the Extermination of Heresy (Concilium Novum de Propaganda Fide et Extirpandis Haereticis), an institution of the Roman Catholic Church established in Turin in 1650.

King Louis XIV

The 1598 Edict of Nantes guaranteed freedom of religion to the Protestant subjects in France. In 1685, King Louis XIV of France revoked this edict and started to purge his territory of Waldensians. French troops sent into the Waldensian areas forced 8,000 to convert to Catholicism through baptism and by placing children in Catholic homes. On 22 May about 2,000 Waldensians were killed in the fighting or massacred afterward. About 3,000 left for Germany. About 8,500 were incarcerated in several fortresses. The government confiscated Waldensian properties and the valleys were resettled by Catholic subjects.

On 3 January 1687, the released prisoners were granted permission to leave the country, but only 3,841 had survived by that time and only 2565 reached Geneva.

The Genevan Waldensian exiles formed a rebel army of about 900 men in the summer of 1689, with the objective of returning home and retaking possession of their valleys. This event is known as the “Glorious Return”. The Waldensians suffered many losses due to hardships during the journey. French troops blocked their way, but the Protestants defeated them and reached their valleys on 6 September. They plundered the farms of the new Catholic settlers and ambushed ducal patrols. The Glorious Return was a great success, despite the heavy casualties.

Victor Amadeus II

But Louis XIV was determined to crush the Waldensians once and for all. He demanded Duke of Savoy, Victor Amadeus II to cooperate. Victor Amadeus requested several times that the Waldensians would pack up and leave his domain again without being attacked, but this offer was refused.

Louis moved to finish the Waldensians off himself. However, on 28 May 1690 Victor Amadeus signed a truce with the Waldensians and made plans for a joint attack on the French invaders. Also, on 4 June, Victor Amadeus II recalled the Waldensians from abroad back home to Piedmont. The vast majority did indeed return to their valleys in northwestern Italy.

In this way, Duke Victor Amadeus effectively put an end to the Savoyard-Waldensian Wars, as the duchy once again tolerated the presence of Protestant subjects on its territory, and protected them against the French troops invading Piedmont.

But this was not to last long. On 29 June 1696, Savoy concluded a separate peace with France, which required that all Protestants be expelled from Savoy. In 1698, Victor Amadeus forced about 3,000 Protestants to leave the Waldensian valleys.

French Revolution

After the French Revolution, beginning in 1789, the Waldenses were assured liberty of conscience.

The Council of Constantinople in AD 381 was not ecumenical.

Authors quoted

Due to discoveries of ancient documents and research during the 20th century, the scholarship of the past fifty years has concluded that the traditional account of the fourth-century Arian Controversy is history written by the winner and a complete travesty. This article quotes from books that present the revised account of that Controversy. Although almost all quotes are hidden in ‘read more’ sections, they are crucial to this article. [Show More]

Not Ecumenical

“The Council of Constantinople met during May, June and July 381.” (Hanson, p805) It is known as the Second Ecumenical Council. ‘Ecumenical’ means that it represents all churches and perspectives. However, that council was far from ecumenical. It was a regional council of Antioch, attended only by pro-Nicenes. The Western church did not attend at all. Furthermore, already in the preceding year (380), the Eastern emperor Theodosius, with the support of the other two emperors at the time, had made Western Nicene theology the State Religion of the Roman Empire, exiled the Homoian (Arian) bishop of the Capital (Constantinople), appointed a pro-Nicene bishop, and outlawed all non-Nicene Christianity, with threats of punishment. For that reason, only pro-Nicenes were allowed to attend. [Show More]

The emperor controlled the Council.

The church did not call the meeting. The emperor summoned, welcomed, monitored, and controlled it carefully. The first act of the Council was to accept the person whom the emperor had already appointed as bishop of Constantinople. [Show More]

The emperor also controlled the meeting through the chairperson, who acted as the emperor’s agent. The first chairperson was Meletius, but he died soon and was replaced as chairperson by Gregory Nazianzen, whom the emperor had appointed as bishop of Constantinople. But Gregory shortly resigned and the emperor replaced him with Nectarius, who was equivalent to the mayor of the city (“praetor urbanus in Constantinople” (Hanson, p811), but who was still receiving instruction in preparation for baptism. He was baptized immediately after he was elected bishop. These events reveal the emperor’s control of the Council. The election of a civil servant as both chairperson and bishop of the Capital also shows the unity of Church and State. [Show More]

Due to the lack of division between Church and State, this was not the first time that a civil servant was appointed as bishop. In the West, Ambrose, who became a trusted advisor to the emperor in the West, was a civil servant. [Show More]

The Council concluded the Meletian Schism.

The Meletian Schism was a dispute between the ‘one hypostasis’ and ‘three hypostases’ pro-Nicenes, particularly over the election of the bishop of Antioch, and is named after Meletius:

The Western pro-Nicenes, including the bishop of Rome (Damasus) and the bishop of Alexandria (Athanasius, and later his successor Peter), supported Paulinus as bishop of Antioch. They, like Paulinus, believed that the Father and Son are a single Person (one hypostasis).

As was traditional in the East, the Eastern Cappadocians maintained that the Son is a distinct Person (a distinct hypostases). They believed the Father, Son, and Spirit are ‘three hypostases’ (three distinct Persons). Basil of Caesarea, the first Cappadocian, supported Meletius as bishop of Antioch.

As discussed in the article on this schism, the emotions ran high on both sides. Since the Council of Constantinople was a meeting of pro-Nicenes, these emotions continued into the Council. [Show More]

As stated, Meletius, the bishop of Antioch, who was also the first chairperson of the council, suddenly died. The meeting then discussed a replacement for him as bishop of Antioch. The new chairperson (Gregory) proposed Paulinus but the meeting elected Flavian, “a prominent presbyter of the party of Paulinus.” (Hanson, p810). [Show More]

Flavian was So, he was on the same side as Paulinus.

Nectarius, the praetor urbanus in Constantinople, who was now elected as bishop of Constantinople, supported “the Eustathian cause in Antioch.” (Hanson, p811) Eustathius was the leading Sabellian when the Arian Controversy began. Like the bishops of Rome and Alexandria, the Sabellians taught that the Father, Son, and Spirit are a single Person (hypostasis). Nectarius, therefore, was also in the ‘one-hypostasis camp’. This was not surprising because the emperor had already made ‘one hypostasis’ the state religion of the Roman Empire. (See article)

It is surprising that Gregory proposed Paulinus because Gregory, since he was one of the Cappadocians, presumably supported the ‘three hypostasis’ side. Perhaps the emperor had instructed Gregory to propose Paulinus and Gregory resigned because he was unwilling to be the emperor’s agent.

In conclusion, the delegates “have been carefully chosen from areas which would be friendly to Meletius.” (Hanson, p806) But the meeting ends with Meletius dead and, consistent with the declared state Religion of the Empire, people who believed that the Father and Son are a single Person (one hypostasis) as bishops of Antioch and Constantinople and as chairperson of the council.

Other Decisions

“The council re-affirmed N but also produced the creed C. … All this lasted three months from May to July 381.” (Hanson, p807) See the article on that Creed

The council agreed that “the bishop of Constantinople is to enjoy precedence in honour next after the bishop of Rome because it is the New Rome’. It is very likely that this was intended to reduce the pretensions of the archbishop of Alexandria.” (Hanson, p808) But this also made a newly baptized civil servant the second-most powerful man in the Church.

Category: Historical Development