The Probert Encyclopaedia of People

WALDENSES

The Waldenses were a religious community founded by Peter Waldo in 1170 when he renounced his possessions and wandered as a preacher of voluntary poverty. The group established themselves in the valleys of the Cottian Alps and denounced the authority of the Church of Rome. As a result they were persecuted by the Duchess of Savoy in 1475 who ordered a war of extermination against them. In 1487 the Pope announced a Crusade against them. In 1686 the Duke of Savoy exiled to Geneva those he failed to forcibly convert. Three years later a small band returned and in 1848 were granted full religious and political rights.
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