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

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Etymology

Origin of Waldenses

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

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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

Gregory was relentless in the extermination of Waldenses, Beghards, and the remnants of the Cathari, but he saw nothing to object to in the mysticism and illuminism of his visitors.

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

Although the Lombard Waldenses admitted their descent from the Poor Men of Lyons, their more rapid development gave rise to differences, and in 1218 a conference was held at Bergamo between delegates of both parties.

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

A succession of inquisitors—Piero di Castelmonte, Ruffino di Terdona, Tommaso da Casacho, and Michele Grassi, undaunted by the fate of their predecessors, wasted their energies on the Piedmontese Waldenses without reducing them to subjection.

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

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