A member of a Christian movement founded in 12th-century Lyon by Peter Waldo, emphasizing poverty, preaching in vernacular languages, and biblical literacy.
Named after Peter Waldo (Valdès), a wealthy merchant who gave away his possessions around 1170 and began preaching. The movement spread throughout medieval Europe despite persecution.
Waldensians were translating the Bible into local languages 300 years before Gutenberg's printing press! They memorized entire books of scripture and created a network of traveling preachers who could recite biblical passages in multiple dialects.
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