Exercises on the Heresy of the Waldensians

The heresy of the Waldensians arose from preaching by:

a) Raimundo VI of Toulouse

b) Pedro Valdo

c) Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

d) Pedro de Aragão

e) Innocence III

(PUC-PR/adapted) Before the 13th century, local bishops were responsible for the discovery and trial of heretics in Western Europe. At that time, heretics were guilty of treason against God and should be purged from society, as they could hamper individual salvation, as well as shake the foundations of the Christian faith. Between the 11th and 12th centuries, two important heretical movements emerged:the Cathars or Albigensians and the Waldensians. Regarding the Waldensians, read the following statements:

I. The Waldensians denied the existence of purgatory and criticized the cult of the saints.

II. The Waldensian movement in general was divided into two main focuses:one present in France and the other present in Italy.

III. The Waldensians were the followers of Peter, a wealthy merchant from Lyons, a French city, who distributed his property to the poor.

IV. The Waldensians preached the Gospel in the vernacular and not in Latin, without permission from the Church.

Check the CORRECT alternative:

a) Only statements I and II are correct.

b) Only statement I is correct.

c) Only statement II is correct.

d) Only statements I, II and III are correct.

e) All statements are correct.

According to historians, how did the conversion of Pedro Valdo, leader of the Waldensian movement take place?

a) Supposedly, Pedro Valdo had had a vision of the angel Gabriel revealing to him the doctrine he began to preach.

b) Pedro Valdo was deeply converted after surviving a serious illness.

c) Pedro Valdo was converted after listening to a sermon during a trip he made to the Bulgarian region.

d) Pedro Valdo converted after reading the Bible and made the decision to follow the ecclesiastical life.

e) Supposedly, Pedro Valdo converted after experiencing great emotion with the death of his wife.

Letter B

The heresy of the Waldensians arose from the sermons carried out by Pedro Valdo, a wealthy merchant in the Lyon region of France. His preaching touched people who became his disciples, which led to the formation of the Waldensian Church.

Letter E

All assertions are correct, as the Waldensians denied the existence of purgatory and criticized the cult of the saints. The Waldensian church was installed in two major focuses, concentrated in France and Italy. Its leader, Pedro Valdo, abandoned his life as a merchant and donated part of his goods to the poor when he began ecclesiastical life and his preaching was carried out in a common language – Provençal – and not in Latin.

Letter D

Pedro Valdo's conversion, according to the report, took place after he had completed a complete reading of the Bible. When he finished reading, he was moved and decided to abandon his life as a merchant and began to live in a vow of poverty in ecclesiastical life. In addition, Pedro Valdo started the translation of the Bible into Provencal so that other people could have access to the scriptures.