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The History of the Waldenses
The Waldenes were among the first of the people of Europe to obtain a translation of the Holy Scriptures. Hundreds of years before the Reformation they possessed the Bible in manuscript in their native tongue. Here the light of truth was kept burning amid the darkness of the Middle Ages. Here, for a thousand years, witnesses for the truth maintained the ancient faith.
206 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1880
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About the author
James Aitken Wylie
229 books13 followersRev. James Aitken Wylie was a Scottish historian of religion and Presbyterian minister. He was a prolific writer and is most famous for writing The History of Protestantism. Wylie was born in Kirriemuir, Scotland and his father, James Aitken was an Auld Licht Antiburgher minister in the Original Secession Church. Wylie was educated at Marischal College, University of Aberdeen where he stayed for three years before studying at St. Andrews under Thomas Chalmers. He followed his father's example, entering the Original Secession Divinity Hall, Edinburgh in 1827, and was ordained in 1831. In 1852, after joining the Free Church of Scotland, Wylie edited their Free Church Record until 1860.
He published his book The Papacy: Its History, Dogmas, Genius, and Prospects in 1851. The Protestant Institute appointed him Lecturer on Popery in 1860. He continued in this role until his death in 1890, publishing in 1888 his work The Papacy is the Antichrist. Wylie's classic work, The History of Protestantism (1878), went out of print in the 1920s.
He published his book The Papacy: Its History, Dogmas, Genius, and Prospects in 1851. The Protestant Institute appointed him Lecturer on Popery in 1860. He continued in this role until his death in 1890, publishing in 1888 his work The Papacy is the Antichrist. Wylie's classic work, The History of Protestantism (1878), went out of print in the 1920s.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
January 7, 2013
Almost immediately after starting this book I knew I was going to have to read it again. The writing style for history, it seems, has changed a lot. This book very quickly flies through information, rather than drawing out a detailed story like most history books I've read. That's not to say it's uninteresting. In fact it was nice to have a quick look at the details without a lot of fluff. But I probably missed a lot in the first few chapters while adjusting.
Despite being brief, the writing style is very engaging. I found myself wanting to travel to the home of the Waldenses to see the natural wonders of that place for myself. But it would no doubt be a somber trip considering the repeated tragedies of this people.
I find it hard to believe they are not more well known. The horrors they faced at those who opposed their beliefs are unimaginable. At one point the author declines to give all the bloody details of what was done to them, having already told some very horrific things. Though perhaps not the same scale, but certainly as horrific, to me it seems forgetting the history of this people is like forgetting the holocaust. I recommend learning the history of this people who suffered so much, and whose persistence in their beliefs made a great impact on protections for freedom of conscious.
Despite being brief, the writing style is very engaging. I found myself wanting to travel to the home of the Waldenses to see the natural wonders of that place for myself. But it would no doubt be a somber trip considering the repeated tragedies of this people.
I find it hard to believe they are not more well known. The horrors they faced at those who opposed their beliefs are unimaginable. At one point the author declines to give all the bloody details of what was done to them, having already told some very horrific things. Though perhaps not the same scale, but certainly as horrific, to me it seems forgetting the history of this people is like forgetting the holocaust. I recommend learning the history of this people who suffered so much, and whose persistence in their beliefs made a great impact on protections for freedom of conscious.
April 9, 2020
Being a student of Baptist history in particular and interested in Church history and martyrology in general, I had heard of the Waldensians and admired them from an intellectual distance. However, Wylie has opened my eyes to the rich heritage of the Waldensians and their contribution to the history of Europe and the Reformation. Neither had I understood how many other countries took an interest in the Waldensians, or the geographical reach they had for the cause of Christ. Although it is written in a mid-19th century style, it is very much worth the time spent in its pages.
July 8, 2024
Stirring account of a faith-filled people being held fast by God’s hand to persevere through centuries of horrifying and atrocious persecution by the Roman Catholic Church. Have the Catholics ever admitted that this was wrong or shown remorse for their many tyrannies and killing of innocents, not just here but throughout the Reformation? Sometimes the writing style caused details and places to blur together in the mind.
May 5, 2024
Incredibly well written and extremely compelling. The Waldenses were some of the most noble Christians in history.
July 9, 2024
2024:
Author’s point: The Waldenses modeled Christian tenacity and manly fortitude in their perseverance and suffering for hundreds of years.
My evaluation: It is difficult to tell whether the heart is stirred more by the length of time throughout which these villages persevered or the intensity of the sufferings they endured.
2020:
The forgotten suffering of plain farmers, wives, and children for their commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ shall resound in the courts of Heaven and the hallways of eternity.
Most important sections:
The story of persecutions in chapter 7.
John Paschale in chapter 11.
The massacre in chapter 13.
The manliness of Gianavello in 14.
The thrilling providence of God in chapters 16-17.
Author’s point: The Waldenses modeled Christian tenacity and manly fortitude in their perseverance and suffering for hundreds of years.
My evaluation: It is difficult to tell whether the heart is stirred more by the length of time throughout which these villages persevered or the intensity of the sufferings they endured.
2020:
The forgotten suffering of plain farmers, wives, and children for their commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ shall resound in the courts of Heaven and the hallways of eternity.
Most important sections:
The story of persecutions in chapter 7.
John Paschale in chapter 11.
The massacre in chapter 13.
The manliness of Gianavello in 14.
The thrilling providence of God in chapters 16-17.
January 5, 2017
This was a rather difficult book to read, but so helpful in showing the abominable deeds that the Roman Catholic Institution raged against the innocent Waldensian Christians. I would highly recommend it.
February 23, 2023
An Interesting History
A history of protestant persecution not offen heard about. Their battle to survive is well told. The persecutions are horrendous, perpetrated by the leaders trying to please the papal powers. The persecutions performed under the church Rome throughout its history are well known.
Although well written, some of the descriptions become bit "flowering" for me and seem to somewhat go on and on for my taste. Overall, I definitely reccomend a reading of this important time in history.
A history of protestant persecution not offen heard about. Their battle to survive is well told. The persecutions are horrendous, perpetrated by the leaders trying to please the papal powers. The persecutions performed under the church Rome throughout its history are well known.
Although well written, some of the descriptions become bit "flowering" for me and seem to somewhat go on and on for my taste. Overall, I definitely reccomend a reading of this important time in history.
December 21, 2017
God's remnant; His light in darkness
Very interesting history of the Vaudois. Theywere proton-reformers, practicing an apostolic ,, biblically based faith long before Rome gained power and reform became necessary. Living quietly in the Italian Alps,loyal to the Duke of Savoy, they were hunted, tortured,and murdered as heritics.
Wylie's style is a bit hard to follow, but he does a good job .
Very interesting history of the Vaudois. Theywere proton-reformers, practicing an apostolic ,, biblically based faith long before Rome gained power and reform became necessary. Living quietly in the Italian Alps,loyal to the Duke of Savoy, they were hunted, tortured,and murdered as heritics.
Wylie's style is a bit hard to follow, but he does a good job .
July 15, 2025
This was a wonderful read. Like the home country of the Waldenses, this book has many triumphal peaks and devastating troughs. The tales of martyrs and Christian warriors are both harrowing and encouraging. Every Protestant should read this book to supplement their understanding of pre-reformation Christianity. The only reason this isn’t five stars, is that the description of the terrain felt a bit monotonous.
August 5, 2023
Nice history of the Waldensians.
The book is a good collection of events that identify the Waldensians. The book is a bit hard to read becuase, I believe, it was translated from another language and the translation to English is a bit rough. However, the story comes across very well.
The book is a good collection of events that identify the Waldensians. The book is a bit hard to read becuase, I believe, it was translated from another language and the translation to English is a bit rough. However, the story comes across very well.
December 1, 2025
This is a great place to start for a history of the Waldenses. Wylie writes within the reformed tradition and naturally holds these people in high esteem. There are numerous references to source material, in particular Leger's book.
October 6, 2019
Great!
Well written, informative, and a solid reminder of the lies and blood upon which the Roman conspiracy is founded. Church history is a must study for any bible believer.
Well written, informative, and a solid reminder of the lies and blood upon which the Roman conspiracy is founded. Church history is a must study for any bible believer.
October 6, 2024
Interesting history of the Waldensian Christians.
December 31, 2020
A great "unknown" for most people, the history of the Waldenses is an interesting fascinating part of the story of the fight for freedom of conscience and freedom of worship from the tryannical Papacy in Vatican City, Rome.
This isn't the easiest read but is not the hardest by any stretch. Those who struggle with "thick" books (thick with content, not necessarily the size of the book) would do well to read a few pages each day digesting what is written in small chunks.
Non-Christians need to know about this. It shows that Bible Christians have NOT murdered unbelievers or heretics but are the VICTIMS of such persecution.
Evangelical Christians need to read this in order to understand the price paid in blood and suffering by our Christian ancestors as the descendants of the Waldneses joined the Anabaptists, Brethren, Moravians, etc., in keeping the primitive Christianity of apostolic times alive and thriving until our present day.
Roman Catholics need to face the reality of their bloody religion who, right up to this moment, has been responsible for murder of professing Christians and other non-Romanists while serving as a political entity and NOT "the Church" as the propagandists would have us believe. I could not belong to such a wicked religion with this sort of history, any more than I could belong to the Nazi, Communist, Socialist, Marxist or Democrat Parties.
But one additional word I want to add regards historians in general. Most history (that I have read and others have described over the last 30 years) is SANITIZED. Historians have an agenda. They write with bias. It's a fact of human nature and established by any critical reading of history texts.
And the history of the Waldenses also suffers due to standards of evidence. Historians basically say, "If there's no documentation, there's no history." And to that point, we can agree that one should never write and claim that an event happened when that event is not established by the evidence.
HOWEVER, one FACT of history that is ignored (many times, on purpose) is the historical FACT that when the Pope's henchmen and armies attacked the Weldensians (for one example) they not only killed men and women, abducted their children and razed or burned their homes, churches, etc., but they also destroyed the very documents that would tell the TRUE story of the Waldneses.
In other words, honest historians should spend some time explaining that much of the Waldensian story is unknown BECAUSE of the genocidal treatment they received from the Papal forces of Inquisition and War.
This book provides information not found in other histories, describes those genocidal attacks and fills in the blanks left by the histories that try to simply avoid the story of the Waldensians.
This isn't the easiest read but is not the hardest by any stretch. Those who struggle with "thick" books (thick with content, not necessarily the size of the book) would do well to read a few pages each day digesting what is written in small chunks.
Non-Christians need to know about this. It shows that Bible Christians have NOT murdered unbelievers or heretics but are the VICTIMS of such persecution.
Evangelical Christians need to read this in order to understand the price paid in blood and suffering by our Christian ancestors as the descendants of the Waldneses joined the Anabaptists, Brethren, Moravians, etc., in keeping the primitive Christianity of apostolic times alive and thriving until our present day.
Roman Catholics need to face the reality of their bloody religion who, right up to this moment, has been responsible for murder of professing Christians and other non-Romanists while serving as a political entity and NOT "the Church" as the propagandists would have us believe. I could not belong to such a wicked religion with this sort of history, any more than I could belong to the Nazi, Communist, Socialist, Marxist or Democrat Parties.
But one additional word I want to add regards historians in general. Most history (that I have read and others have described over the last 30 years) is SANITIZED. Historians have an agenda. They write with bias. It's a fact of human nature and established by any critical reading of history texts.
And the history of the Waldenses also suffers due to standards of evidence. Historians basically say, "If there's no documentation, there's no history." And to that point, we can agree that one should never write and claim that an event happened when that event is not established by the evidence.
HOWEVER, one FACT of history that is ignored (many times, on purpose) is the historical FACT that when the Pope's henchmen and armies attacked the Weldensians (for one example) they not only killed men and women, abducted their children and razed or burned their homes, churches, etc., but they also destroyed the very documents that would tell the TRUE story of the Waldneses.
In other words, honest historians should spend some time explaining that much of the Waldensian story is unknown BECAUSE of the genocidal treatment they received from the Papal forces of Inquisition and War.
This book provides information not found in other histories, describes those genocidal attacks and fills in the blanks left by the histories that try to simply avoid the story of the Waldensians.
April 7, 2015
The history of the Waldenses has always fascinated me, as not much has been known about this people until the last two centuries. So I was thrilled to get my hands on this volume. Unfortunately, though, it left a lot to be desired. Wylie offers a good overview of Waldensian history from pre-Reformation days until the mid-1800's, but detailed accounts are sorely lacking. Maybe this is because not many details are available--I honestly don't know. But the majority of this book is an account of Roman Catholic persecution of the Vaduois and nothing more. Beyond this, the most interesting historical snapshots are those of the interaction between the Waldenses and the Reformers during the time of the Reformation. I'm grateful to Wylie for his book, written as it was in the 1800's, but I look forward to a more comprehensive treatment of Waldensian history.
April 25, 2013
One feels transported to the Alps as one reads Wylie's colorful and vivid accounts. It is a travesty that the horrific suffering on the Waldenses is so little known. It is obvious that a great deal of research went into the writing of this book. I only wish Wylie's resources were more readily available.
January 28, 2015
Interesting history of the Waldenses. Archaic style (to be expected in a 19th century work). Historical quality seems iffy; seems to disagree with more modern sources and gloss over some long time periods. All that said, descriptions of their homeland etc. are beautiful and the treatment of their sufferings/persecutions evocative.
October 29, 2016
A compelling read
A very compelling read about the sacrifice and final justification and victory of the Waldensian people who suffered from acts of genocidal extermination by the Catholic church for the crime of believing the Bible and not the Catholic's idolatrous, heretical, pagan beliefs.
A very compelling read about the sacrifice and final justification and victory of the Waldensian people who suffered from acts of genocidal extermination by the Catholic church for the crime of believing the Bible and not the Catholic's idolatrous, heretical, pagan beliefs.
June 4, 2014
The Waldenses are one of Christian's historical ancestors. They fought battles unknown to many around the world, but know their tale is here....
This book had great information and important facts. But the writing was uninteresting and dull, It was written like a college history book.
This book had great information and important facts. But the writing was uninteresting and dull, It was written like a college history book.
May 12, 2013
A history that must be told, a history that's been buried.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews