The history of the Waldenses (Vaudois in French — men of the valleys) and the Albigenses is a most interesting one. They were peoples of the Languedoc and Piedmont regions of southeastern France and northwestern Italy. Protected by the valleys of the Alps, they remained true to the Christianity first preached in those regions. Unfortunately, it is difficult to get a clear picture of them. On the one hand their enemies vilified them as heretics, while on the other, they are claimed as the predecessors of those seeking to establish themselves as the pure branch of Christianity. It has been suggested that Peter Waldo, the reformer of Lyons, was the founder of the Waldenses, but those that have considered the matter have refuted this. The primitive exercise of Christianity by the Waldenses predated Peter Waldo. Others have associated these peoples with the eastern Paulicians, a sect charged with Manicheism (a doctrine derived from that of the Gnostics of Apostolic days). Since they rejected transubstantiation, it was no doubt convenient to also accuse them of rejecting the reality of Christ’s bodily sufferings. While these charges were useful to their enemies, it is inconsistent with their manner of life and their testimony. They did reject the system of traditions maintained by the church of Rome. They also held to only two sacraments — baptism and the Lord’s supper. They appealed to scripture and scripture alone in matters of faith and worship. For this they were condemned as heretics.
In 1160, Peter Waldo left his usual trade and devoted his service to the Lord. Employing two ecclesiastics, he had the Gospels and some other books of scripture, along with various passages from the church fathers, translated into his native tongue. The scriptures at that time, as they had been for centuries, were kept from the laity. Further, even if they were available, the use of Latin prevented them from being understood. Following the example found in the Gospels, he sent out disciples two by two into the villages to preach. By 1172 this had incurred the wrath of the church hierarchy, and he received his first condemnation. The year of his death is estimated to be 1179. By 1200 the opinions of the Waldenses were widely spread. It is said that in the southeast of France they had more schools than the Catholics. Further, they enjoyed the protection of various wealthy cities of Languedoc. Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse, though a Roman Catholic, favored those of the Waldensian creed as his best subjects.
In 1207, Pope Innocent II demanded that Raymond should exterminate his heretical subjects with fire and sword. Twice he refused, and twice he was excommunicated and his dominions placed under a solemn interdict. Ultimately Raymond agreed and a treaty was signed. However, Raymond was slow to carry out his obligations. He is said to have remarked that he would make Castelnau, the apostolic legate of the Pope, answer with his life. This was sufficient pretext for the Pope to offer the fiefs of Toulouse to any who would take them. In response to his call in the year 1209, some three hundred thousand soldiers gathered around the provinces, all wearing the symbol of the cross, the mark of the crusade. Unprepared for such an assault, Raymond submitted to the demands of the pope. He was granted absolution under certain conditions. 1. He must clear himself of the murder of Castelnau. 2. As a proof of his sincerity he must surrender seven of his best castles. 3. He should do public penance for his past offences. 4. He should in his own person become a crusader against his own subjects. Receiving absolution, he was publicly scourged and then had to accompany the crusaders against his own people.
The nephew of Raymond, Raymond-Roger, a young man of 24, resolved to defend his people against the crusaders. Beziers fell first, where both Catholic and heretic were slain together — the abbot declared “the Lord knoweth them that are His.” Some 20,000, perhaps many more, were slain. Carcassonne, under the direct command of Roger, held out for forty days. A great mass of the troops returned home after serving their 40 days, all that was required to gain the privilege of a crusader; and were it not for the treachery of the abbot, the city might have survived. Instead, about 400 citizens were hanged and burned for heresy. In 1210, with a renewed call for soldiers, the war recommenced with fresh fury. Though Raymond had been absolved, the See of Rome wanted the well-favored lands of southern France. The whole land was ravaged, and villages massacred. At Lavaur 400 were burned in one great pile. Even with the death of Pope Innocent and Simon de Montfort (chief amongst those vying for the fiefs of Raymond), the crusades continued. It was not until the treaty of Paris in 1229 that the war was terminated for a time. Under the terms of the treaty, Raymond VII abdicated all his feudal sovereignty to the king of France, and submitted to the penance of the church. And for what did so many die? “They denied the utility of infant baptism; that the bread and wine became the body and blood of the Lord by the consecration of a priest; that unfaithful ministers had any right to the exercise of ecclesiastical power, or to tithes or firstfruits; that auricular confession was necessary. All these things the wretched men asserted that they learned from the Gospels and Epistles, and that they would receive nothing, except what they found expressly contained therein; thus rejecting the interpretation of the doctors, they themselves were perfectly illiterate.”8
The Inquisition
Beginning with Constantine, heretics that presumed to dispute his opinions or oppose his commands were accused of being guilty of criminal obstinacy. An application of moderate punishment might save those unhappy men from the danger of an everlasting condemnation. Theodosius is generally considered to be the first of the Roman Emperors to pronounce heresy a capital crime, and it was he that established the Office of the Inquisitor.
In 1210, during the crusades against the Albigenses, a tribunal was first opened in a castle near Narbonne to denounce heretics so as to ensure their apprehension. In 1229, at a council held in Toulouse, a permanent Inquisition was established. Since a heretic could only be judged by a bishop or an ecclesiastic, and with the large number of apprehensions, the work was committed into the hands of the Dominicans, and the Inquisition became a distinct institution. The inquisition found its way into much of western Europe, but it gained the greatest footing in Spain. The Inquisition was not dissolved in Spain until 1808. As late as 1820, when the Inquisition was decreed abolished, prisoners were still being confined by it.
Suspected heretics were spied upon by Familiars of the Inquisition. With the smallest excuse for apprehending the individual, they were turned over to the tribunal of the Holy Office. The individual may be a Jew or Islamic, or he might be a Catholic. It has been said that nine out of ten were Catholics. Any thing spoken or written against the creed or traditions of the Catholic Church was heresy. Any one speaking against the inquisition was also brought into severe punishment. One of the canons issued by the council of Toulouse concerned the Bible, apparently considered to be the principle source of the opinions of the so-called heretics. “We prohibit the books of the Old and New Testament to the laity; unless, perhaps, they may desire to have the Psalter, or Breviary, or the Hours of the blessed Virgin Mary; but we expressly forbid their having the other parts of the Bible translated into the vulgar tongue.”
The tribunal was conducted in complete secrecy, with no advocate for the individual, and no witnesses appearing publicly. Food and sleep deprivation and other forms of punishment were inflicted on the individual, with the goal of producing a confession. The accused could spend months in confinement, never knowing the accusation against him. Ultimately torture was used, a tool sanctioned by the Catholic Church. When the accused was convicted, either by witnesses or his own forced confession, he was sentenced, either to perpetual imprisonment, other punishments, or death. Those sentenced to death by fire were accumulated to make the effect more pronounced. The final sentence was carried out as a religious ceremony. This service, titled the Auto de Fe, or “Act of Faith,” was held on the Lord’s Day. In great solemnity the victims were led forth in procession to the place of execution. A mass was held and the victims’ sentences pronounced. Those wishing to die a Catholic were strangled, the others were burned alive. In Spain for some 400 years it was a national holiday.
The Inquisition is defended by the Roman Church as being consistent with the modes and means of punishment of that day. While this excuse continues to be employed to justify all types of behaviors, the church clearly was not to call fire down on the heads of those that rejected her (Luke 9:54-5654And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? 55But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. 56For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village. (Luke 9:54‑56)). Also, the church insists that she did not burn heretics, but rather that the civil law of the day demanded such treatment for heretics. The notion that heretics were criminals was something that did not begin with Catholics, nor did it end immediately with the coming of the Reformation. Nevertheless, we see clearly the spirit of Jezebel in the dealings of the Church of Rome.
“And she [Jezebel] wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people: ... They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, [even] against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died” (1 Kings 21:9, 12-139And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people: (1 Kings 21:9)
12They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. 13And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died. (1 Kings 21:12‑13)).