Religious Minorities: The Waldenses · church rather than a quest for innovation. As had been the case in the old Apostolic Church, the Bible should once again become the sole standard

Advisor: Dr. Albert de Lange (Karlsruhe)

Religious Minorities: The Waldenses

Polemic and Historiography of a Religious Minority Between 1510 and 1712

Sources from 28 libraries in 7 countriescompletely covering the subject

Title list available at: www.idc.nl/ez/15

The Waldenses: Precursors to the Reformation?This new installment in IDC’s series on religious minorities features 200 rare books andmanuscripts concerning the Waldenses, many of which are the only copies known to havesurvived. The titles have been brought together from 28 libraries in 7 countries, both inEurope and North America. The series documents the historiography and polemic about the Waldenses between 1510and 1712. It comprises pamphlets as well as major reference works by such figures asCrespin, Pantaleon, Flacius Illyricus and Bossuet. These works remain essential forhistorical research on “heretical” movements during the Middle Ages and the Protestant“martyrs” of the 16th century. Other installments in this series will focus on, among others,the Pietists and the Huguenots.Precursors of the ReformationNowadays “new” is considered goodand “old” obsolete. Values weredifferent in the 16th century, when“antiquity” symbolized truth andgoodness, while anything new wassuspect. That was why Catholictheologians accused Luther, Zwingliand Calvin of devising a new doctrineand founding new churches. Protestanttheologians disagreed, arguing that theaim of the Reformation was to do awaywith the novelties unrelated to the Biblethat popes had introduced over thepreceding centuries, such as thedoctrines of purgatory,transubstantiation and papal primacy.The Reformation was an effort torestore the “old” doctrine of the “old”church rather than a quest forinnovation. As had been the case in theold Apostolic Church, the Bible shouldonce again become the sole standard forthe Christian doctrine and way of life.

Protestant theologians interpreted“antiquity” as the return to the Bibleand the Apostolic Church rather thancontinuation of the medieval church.They regarded the Middle Ages as aperiod in which the Catholic Churchhad suppressed the old Biblical truthand substituted its own novelties. Yetthey believed that even in these darkages God had preserved a “remnant”faithful to the Bible. Such individuals asJohn Wycliffe, Jan Hus and Savonarola,who were condemned by the CatholicChurch as heretics, were consideredrepresentatives of this remnant andhenceforth counted as “precursors” tothe Reformation.

History of the WaldensesIn 1556 Flacius Illyricus published hismajor work Catalogus testium veritatis,in which he paid tribute to theWaldenses by assigning them anhonorary position in “the chain ofwitnesses to the truth.” The Waldenseswere one of the few remaining medievalheretical movements. They had survivedall persecutions in the Western Alps on

the border between France and Italy. In1532 they joined the Reformation andby 1556 were starting to form their owncommunities after the model of Calvinin Geneva. Historically, the Waldensesoriginated with Waldo of Lyon, who,following the example of the apostles,

decided to travel around in poverty as apreacher in 1174. Since the 13th century,however, the Waldenses themselvesclaimed to have their basis in theapostles. They maintained this standafter joining the Reformationmovement.

Léger, Jean. Histoire générale... Leyde, 1669.

Mother Church of the ReformationFlacius Illyricus remained scepticalabout this legend. In the 17th century,however, many Reformed, Lutheran andAnglican theologians believed thereports in the Waldensianhistoriographies that this group datedback to the apostles and regarded theadherence of the Waldenses to theReformation as proof that Protestantismhad truly restored the “old” doctrine andchurch. Henceforth, the WaldensianChurch came to be regarded as “themother Church of the Reformation”(mater Reformationis). This viewbecame so widespread that theWaldenses consistently receivedpolitical and financial support fromProtestants throughout Europewhenever they were persecuted.

Modern historiographyCatholic theologians, on the other hand,had by the Middle Ages alreadychallenged the view that the Waldenseshad their basis in the apostles. Thispolemic climaxed with Bossuet’sHistoire des variations published in1688. The modern historiography of the19th and 20th centuries has definitively

“de-mythologized” the Waldenses bypresenting sources linking theWaldenses to Waldo and refuting anyties to the apostles. In addition, it isdemonstrated in modern historiographythat the Waldenses abandoned virtuallyall their medieval traditions uponjoining the Reformation and thereforecan not be considered as Protestantsavant la lettre. Nonetheless, theWaldenses retained a specialsignificance in Protestant circles. Theycontinue to be regarded as “precursors”to the Reformation, and some churchesin North America, such as the Baptistsand the Adventists, even claim to berooted in the medieval Waldenses.

This collectionThis series documents thehistoriography and polemic about theWaldenses between 1510 and 1712 andreveals how prominently the Waldensesfigured in the debate over whether theReformation churches were old or new.Accordingly, it is worthwhile both forhistorical research on the identitybuilding of the Reformation and for thevery current question as to the raisond’être of Protestant churches today.

This series features a unique collectionof rare books and pamphlets, many ofwhich are the only copies known toexist. They have been collected from 28libraries, though the majority wasfilmed at the library of the Società diStudi Valdesi in Torre Pellice and theBiblioteca Reale in Turin. The first-timeavailability of these scattered sources inone collection makes it of tremendousvalue for the study of the Waldenses,the early modern period and the historyof the book. The series comprises somemajor reference works by Jean Crespin,John Foxe, Heinrich Pantaleon,Matthias Flacius Illyricus and Jean-Bénigne Bossuet, which remainessential for historical research on“heretical” movements during theMiddle Ages and the Protestant“martyrs” of the 16th century.

I would like to thank Daniele Tron ofthe Società di Studi Valdesi at TorrePellice for his indefatigable help andencouragement. Also, I gratefullyacknowledge my debt to all librariesand private persons that havecooperated in this project.

Dr. Albert de Lange, Karlsruhe

General Information Scope 200 titlesNumber of fiche 490Size of fiche 105 x 148 mm.Film type Positive silver halideReduction ratio Varies depending on the size of the originalInternal Eye-legible headers on every fiche indicating the author, finding aids abbreviated title, place and date of printing of each itemExternal Bibliographic records for all titles ordered are suppliedfinding aids in MARC21 format with the microfiches

Online Waldensian BibliographyAll titles in this collection will be included in a new online Waldensianbibliography at www.bibliografia-valdese.com. This bibliography is a joint projectof the Centro Culturale Valdese in Torre Pellice, the Società di Studi Valdesi inTorre Pellice and the Johannes a Lasco Bibliothek in Emden. Editor of thebibliography is Dr. Albert de Lange.

Religious MinoritiesThis collection is part of a series on Religious Minorities. The series focuses onjewish, christian and moslim minorities. Other parts include The Anabaptist,Mennonite and Spiritualist Reformation, The People called Methodists and OldBelievers. Forthcoming parts will focus on the Pietists, the Huguenots, theKaraits and Wahhabi islam.

For more information and package deals please contact IDC Publishers [email protected].

Title ListThe title list can be downloadedfrom www.idc.nl/ez/15If you prefer a printed title list,please contact us at [email protected]

The barbarous & inhumane proceedings… London,1655.

305.1500 no. 11970548AA82

ItalyBiblioteca della Società di Studi Valdesi, Torre Pellice Biblioteca Reale, Turin Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan

SwitzerlandBibliothèque publique et universitaire, GenevaMusée historique de la Réformation, GenevaZentralbibliothek Zürich, Zurich

FranceBibliothèque nationale de France, Paris Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon, Lyon Bibliothèque municipale d’étude et d’information, Grenoble Bibliothèque municipales de Chambéry, Médiathèque Jean-Jacques

Rousseau, Chambéry

EnglandThe British Library, LondonThe Bodleian Library, Oxford Cambridge University Library, Cambridge

The NetherlandsKoninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague Bibliotheek der Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Groningen Universiteitsbibliotheek Amsterdam, Amsterdam Universiteitsbibliotheek Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Universiteitsbibliotheek Leiden, LeidenUniversiteitsbibliotheek Utrecht, Utrecht Netherlands Institute for Scientific Information Services, Amsterdam

GermanyUniversitätsbibliothek Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt, Halle Waldensermuseum “Henri-Arnaud-Haus”, Ötisheim-Schönenberg

United StatesThe Huntington Library, San Marino, CAThe Newberry Library, Chicago, ILPrinceton University Library, Princeton, NJ

Two private collections

The works in this collection have been brought together from28 libraries in 7 countries

Related CollectionWaldensian Manuscripts at Trinity College, DublinApart from this collection of printed works on theWaldenses, IDC also offers a collection ofWaldensian manuscripts from Trinity College,Dublin. This collection was originally published byWorld Microfilms Publications in London. The conversion of the original film to fiche hasgreatly improved the readability of the manuscripts,since each individual manuscript was given theoptimal exposure. Access to the manuscripts wasfurther enhanced by providing MARC21 catalogrecords to the collection.The Waldensian manuscripts at Trinity College datefrom the 15th to the 17th century. They includepoems, sermons and tracts, as well as a WaldensianBible. Other documents deal with the examinationand sentencing of Waldensian “heretics”. Themanuscripts are described in T.K. Abbott’sCatalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library ofTrinity College, Dublin, p. 38-40 (ms. 258-269).A title list can be downloaded from www.idc.nl.If you prefer a printed title list, please contact us [email protected].

General InformationScope 11 titlesNumber of fiche 67 Film type positive silver halideInternal Eye-legible headers on every finding aids fiche indicating the title and date

of each itemExternal Bibliographic records for all titlesfinding aids ordered are supplied in MARC21

format

For more information please contact any of the following addresses

IDC Publishers 2301 EE Leiden Phone +31 (0)71 514 27 00 Internet www.idc.nlP.O. Box 11205 The Netherlands Fax +31 (0)71 513 17 21 E-mail [email protected]