name Vaudois meant "valley dwellers" or those who "dwell in a vale of sorrow and tears", and was in use before Peter Waldo.

A claim persisted until the 19th century that Waldo had not begun any new movement, but that the Waldensian sect had arisen from a pure Christianity established by the Apostles in the Alps soon after Jesus' ascension, and that Waldo was merely perpetuating this pure faith.

Life and work

Most details of Waldo's life are unknown. Extant sources relate that he was a wealthy clothier and merchant from

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