Waldensians
Around 1170, a merchant named Peter Waldo sold his possessions and devoted his life to preaching. His preaching sparked a broad movement in what's now France and Italy. Because the Waldensians allowed lay people including women to be preachers, they were quickly called heretics by the Catholic Church and excommunicated in 1184.[1] Medieval Waldensians primarily included "craftsmen, weavers, shoemakers, carpenters, masons etc" and small Waldensian congregations continue to exist.[2]
The Waldensians rejected private property and held possessions in common as the apostles did. They opposed the death penalty, and an inquisitor said “they avoid all forms of commerce to avoid lies, frauds and oaths."[3]
Waldensians were split over how to support themselves economically. Federici explainsCite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag
- ↑ "A History of the Waldensians," Musee Protestant, https://museeprotestant.org/en/notice/a-history-of-the-waldensians/.
- ↑ E. Armand, Reddebrek, "The Forerunners of Anarchism: Translation of the Philosophy of Emile Armand," 1933, retrieved from The Anarchist Library, https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/emile-armand-the-forerunners-of-anarchism.
- ↑ Federici, Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation (New York: Autonomedia, 2004), 34, 56n23.
