WALDENSES

religious body living near Turin, since XIJ. cent. Their origin lies in Manicheism, which came from the East, and _produced_ the Cathari (in E. Europe IX. cent.). These heid a dualistic view of the universe and a view of Church order which struck at the roots of the sacerdotalism of Cathat Lyons in 1170 and had a following. The W. disapproved of oaths, capital punishment, and held the Rom. Church was not Christian. They were persecuted by members Dominican Order forming the Inquisition, and they were crushed but not exterminated. Their teaching influenced Wycliffe and Hu , but on the outbreak of the Reformation they were absorbed into the general Prot. movement. Again persecuted in XVII. cent., they were protected by Cromwell, and Milton wrote his famous sonnet about them.