Of the Dispersion and the Various Names of the Waldenses

When Peter Waldo and his followers, through the cruel hatred of the papists, had to leave the city of Lyons on account of his faith, they were distributed and scattered into different parts of the world, and so received various names: from the places where they lived, from their faith, and from the accusations brought against them, especially by the Romanists.

In the History of the Waldenses, by D. Balthasar Lydius, first book of the first part, chapter 3, page 4, column 2, and page 5, column 1, the following account is found of the various names of these people:

"They, in the first place, called them Waldenses, after Waldo, who was a citizen of Lyons; and, after the district of Albi, they called them Albigenses.

"And because those who held to the doctrine of Waldo left Lyons stripped of all human means, having had to leave behind most of their goods, they were called, in derision, The Poor Men of Lyons."

"In Dauphine they were called, by way of derision, Chaignards, that is, Dogs.

"Also, because a part of them crossed the Alps, they were called Transmontani. [n380-1]

"After Joseph, one of Waldo's disciples, who preached in the bishopric of Dije, Lower Dauphine, they were called Josephists.

"In England they were called Lollards, after Lollardus, one of those who preached there.

"After two priests, Henry and Esperon, who taught the doctrine of Waldo in Languedoc, they were called Henricians and Esperonists.

"After Arnold, one of their pastors or teachers, who preached in Albigeois, they were called Arnoldists.

"In Province they were called, in an unknown tongue, Siccars.

"In Italy they were called Fratricellii, that is, Little Brothers, because they lived like brothers in true unity.

"Also, since they kept no other day of rest or holiday than Sunday, they were called Insabbathi or Insabbathas, that is, Sabbathless, or not observing Sabbaths.

"Because they were continually subject to sufferings, and underwent them, they were called Patarins or Patariens, that is, Sufferers, from the Latin word pati, to suffer.

"Because they, as poor wanderers, fled and traveled from country to country, they were called Passagenes, that is, Travelers or Vagrants.

"In Germany they were called Gazares, which means Accursed and Abominable; but this is what the pope of Rome has always been accustomed to call those who oppose the Roman faith.

"In Flanders they were called Turlupini, that is, Dwellers with Wolves, because, on account of persecution, they were often compelled to hide and live in wildernesses and forests, in close proximity to wolves. [n380-2]

"Sometimes they were named after the region or district where they lived, as Albigenses, from Albi; Toulousians, from Toulouse; Lombards, from Lombardy; Picards, from Picardy; Lyonists, from Lyons; Bohemians, from Bohemia."

After this, the origin and cause of these names, as Jean Paul Perrin Lyonnois has noted them, is further explained by D. Balthasar Lydius in his treatise on the various names of the Waldenses, the third chapter of Perrin, from page 48, column 1, to page 82, column 2, where the true innocence and uprightness of these people, though they were sometimes called bad names, is shown in all simplicity and clearness.

But so that nothing may be lacking here, we will, for additional information, add several other names of the Waldenses, passed over by B. Lydius (from J. P. Perrin), but mentioned by Abr. [n380-3] Mellinus, in his History of the Persecutions and Martyrs, for the year 1619, folio 449, columns 3 and 4, by misprint, but, properly, folio 439, columns 3 and 4, and some of them we will explain further. For, among other things, he writes there that these people were also "called Catharists, that is, Heretics, because they were called heretics by their opponents.

"They were called Publicans, because the Romanists compared them to publicans, or open sinners.

"From the Latin word lolium, meaning weed, they were called Lollards; though, as stated above, this name was also given them from Lollardus, a teacher. But they were likened to lolium, a weed that grows among the grain, because they (the papists said) ought to be rooted out like the tares from among the grain. This name they also kept in Germany, Sarmatia, Livonia," and so on.

"They were called Runcari because they lived near Runcalia, not far from Piacenza.

"They were called Barrini, from Mount Barrio of Barian, a place in the district of Crema, in Italy. Also Cotterellos, because they lived on the mountains known as the Cottian Alps. They were also called Comists, because they lived in the city of Como, in Italy.

"In Germany they were called Grubenheimer, that is, Cave dwellers, because necessity compelled them to live underground, in pits and caves.

"In France they were called Texerants, that is, Weavers, because there were many weavers among them."

These and similar names were given to the Waldenses in former times, and we have thought it necessary to notice them briefly, so that the readers, in the rest of our history, whenever these or similar persons are spoken of, may know who they were and of what belief.