Waldenses

American  

[wawl-den-seez, wol-] / wɔlˈdɛn siz, wɒl- /

plural noun

1. the members of a Christian sect that arose after 1170 in southern France under the leadership of Pierre Waldo, a merchant of Lyons, and joined the Reformation in the 16th century.

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Waldenses British  

/ wɒlˈdɛnsiːz /

plural noun

1. Also called: Vaudois.  the members of a small sect founded as a reform movement within the Roman Catholic Church by Peter Waldo, a merchant of Lyons in the late 12th century, which in the 16th century joined the Reformation movement

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Other Word Forms

• Waldensian
  noun
• Waldensian
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of Waldenses

First recorded in 1400–50; plural of Middle English Waldensis, from Medieval Latin, after Pierre Waldo; see -ensis

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Waldenses

For nearly seven centuries the Waldenses, the "slaughtered saints" of Milton's sonnet, tenaciously weathered persecution in the valleys of the Cottian Alps.

From Time Magazine Archive

To Waldenses in the U. S. last week came good news from Italy.

From Time Magazine Archive

One woman confessed to giving forty sols to a Catharan for medical services, while to Waldenses she gave only wine and bread.

From A History of The Inquisition of The Middle Ages; volume II by Henry Charles Lea

The ineffectiveness of the Neapolitan Inquisition is seen in the comparative security which attended an organized immigration of Waldenses from the valleys of the Cottian Alps.

From A History of The Inquisition of The Middle Ages; volume II by Henry Charles Lea

The only recorded result of this was the penancing of seven Waldenses by Dumont in 1353.

From A History of The Inquisition of The Middle Ages; volume II by Henry Charles Lea