Vaudois (Noun)
Meaning
A Christian sect of dissenters that originated in southern France in the late 12th century adopted Calvinist doctrines in the 16th century.
Classification
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects.
Examples
- The Vaudois movement, led by Peter Waldo, began as a call for simplicity and a return to biblical poverty in the 12th century.
- Although the early Vaudois beliefs were influenced by Catholicism, their later adoption of Calvinist doctrines shifted their views more in line with Protestantism.
- In 1686, Louis XIV's forces brutally suppressed the Vaudois in southern France, leading to mass persecution and displacement of the sect.
- During the Italian wars of the 16th to 17th centuries, the Vaudois population found relative safety in the valleys of the Cottian Alps.
- As the Vaudois gradually joined the Reformed faith, many began attending Calvinist churches and participating in the regular practices and traditions of the Calvinist church.