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Waldo was neither the first nor the only divergent voice raised inside and outside of the Roman Catholic Church at this time and place. Europe was aflame with new religious movements reacting to such things as the struggle of the Papacy for supremacy, the corrupt practices of local clergy, and the currents of thought that were flowing into the area as a result of the Crusades.22 The Albigensians or the Cathari were the leading schismatic group,23 but there were many other attacks as well. In 1140 the bishops of France wrote to the Pope that,
Everywhere in our cities and villages, not only in our schools but at the street corners, learned and ignorant, great and small, are discussing the gravest mysteries.24
In the history of this period we find reference to numerous heretical groups,
In addition to these were numerous lesser movements, of which Latourette admits, "We shall probably never learn even the names of all of them."32
Even this short list demonstrates that there were questions being asked at this time, many of which are strikingly similar to those issues raised by the Poor of Lyons:
It is likely that Waldo and his followers were influenced by some of these movements, although it is not clear how much. It would be too coincidental to see such common themes arising apart from any influence whatever. The fact is that there was a cultural and religious milieu shaping the thinking of this movement.
For example, we can place Lyonese poor nuclei in the same area of France as the Cathari, at a time when the Catharite revolution was at its height.34 Also, both southern France and northern Italy were hot-beds of dissident zeal during the very period of the rise of the Waldensians.
On the other hand, the Neo-Platonic and dualistic aspects of so many of these groups is not as evident in the teachings of the Waldensians during the earliest period. There is undoubtedly some platonic asceticism involved in Waldo' renunciation of wealth. Many of the new groups, including the mendicant orders of monks were renouncing all wealth at this time, and traveling around as beggars and preachers.35
It is important to realize that the reason they did so was not in order to relieve poverty through a more equitable distribution of goods, but because the suffering incurred from being poor was good for the soul. The material world was viewed with suspicion, and anything that served to separate one from it would bring him/her closer to the Spiritual world, that is, closer to God.36
Significantly, shortly after the time of Waldo, Boanaventure would argue that poverty had been Christ's pattern, carried on for some time by monks such as the Egyptian anchorites, "but poverty declined after the Donation of Constantine and was not revived until the thirteenth century with the foundation of religious mendicancy by Francis and Dominic." This view of history was identical to that held by the Waldensians.37
Tourn and others argue that this ascetic ideological base was not the case with the Waldensians. Their basis for renunciation of wealth was a literalistic application of Lk. 9:3-6, and Mk. 10:23-27, which are not ascetic. In other words, ". . .one might say that Waldensian piety was eschatological rather than dualist or ascetic."38
This may be partially true for another reason. We find no reference to the monastic literature anywhere in the early Waldensian literature. The Cistercian order, which had been organized around 1119 believed that,
. . .the rule (of St. Benedict) was not merely a guideline or a set of positive laws which can be dispensed, but rather a species of Divine Law, which like the Commandments of the Gospel, has to be interpreted, but cannot be changed or dispensed.39
This point of view, so typical of all of the orders at this time, is absent from early Waldensian thinking. They based their movement of the authority of the scriptures.40
Another distinction between the Waldensians and the monastic idealists at this time was the outward focus of the Poor of Lyons. They were not seeking primarily inner piety, but aggressive outreach to others.
". . .Waldo's case was different [than most poverty enthusiasts]. His vow did not lead him to a monastery and to a life of contemplation and obedience. He was an ordinary citizen among the poor and was determined to remain so. . .41
"For the Poor the bond of unity lay not in the sacraments but in their apostolic mission. Christian virtue, then, was in demonstrating love, and care for the brethren.
"Everyone of them, old and young, men and women, by day and by night, do not stop their learning and teaching of others."
An inquisitor quotes, in the same vein, one of the Poor who had been brought before him: "In our home, women teach as well as men, and one who has been a student for a week teaches another." 42
Thus the Waldensians were more activistic and outreaching than sacramental or reflective.43
Perhaps if there had been more dependence on monastic ideology the later history of the Waldensians would have been very different. Not long after the time of Waldo, another new order arose not far from the region of Lombardy under the leadership of Francis of Assisi. The similarities between these groups is quite striking.
Both were operating in the same area at about the same time. Francis was also untrained in theology. His followers, like the Waldensians, were unlearned. They lived in voluntary poverty, dressing in course cloth and sandals--exactly like the Waldensians. They traveled around sometimes and preached, as the Waldensians did, although the emphasis with the Franciscans was more on service while that of the Waldensians was more on preaching. Both were critical of the Roman Church's failure to fully live up to the ideals of Scripture. Both went to Rome to obtain papal approval for their orders. And this is where the similarity stops.
Francis did obtain approval from the Pope, while Waldo did not.44 Thus the Franciscans were taken into the embrace of the Church. This exempted them from persecution for the time being, and in fact, Franciscans were often leaders of the persecution of the Waldensians.
The question of the relationship of the Waldensians to the other doctrinal currents of that time is hard to determine exactly. There is no evidence of any influence from other groups on Waldo himself, until after his condemnation. Earlier, for instance, he directly denounced the Albigensians' doctrine.45
The most important point in this is that there was no ideological or theological breakthrough that occasioned the Waldensian movement.46 Their existence was not the result of any change in theology, but rather a change in theopraxy--the Poor of Lyons translated the Bible, and preached it in their own words.47 Thus, the Waldensians are an early test case in the area of lay ministry. Their main sin was to take too literally the Biblical command to, ". . .teach them to observe all that I commanded you."
Not only did they refuse to deny the right of the laity to preach and teach, they also allowed and encouraged women to teach. This had tremendous shock effect on their culture, at the same time that it probably tapped an hitherto unknown source of power.48 It would be easy to underestimate the impact that this feature had on the Europe of 1170.
It was after their excommunication that the Poor of Lyons' doctrine became objectionable to the Roman Catholic Church. More than a hundred years later, it was said,
"Among all the sects, there is none more pernicious to the Church than that of the leonists, and for three reasons:
Their one conspicuous fault is, that they blaspheme against the Church and the clergy, points on which laymen in general are known to be too easily led away.49
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