~1140-~1205

Forerunner of the Reformation · Translator

Peter Waldo

Summary
A merchant from Lyon who, in the twelfth century, renounced his wealth after hearing Jesus's call to the rich young man. He promoted Bible translation into the language of the people and lay preaching, giving rise to the Waldensians, one of the earliest movements of evangelical renewal before the Reformation.
Who they were
Biography

Who has never had their routine interrupted by the sudden death of someone close, and for a moment seen their own life with different eyes? Something similar cracked open the comfortable existence of a merchant from Lyon in the twelfth century, leading him to ask what was truly worth living for.

Peter Waldo was a prosperous merchant, with a wife, daughters, and a fortune built partly on loans at interest. Hearing a traveling minstrel recount the life of Saint Alexius, who had abandoned wealth and marriage for a life of surrender, left him unsettled. News of a friend’s sudden death during a meal deepened his unease.

Waldo sought out a master of Scripture and asked what was the safest and most perfect path to God. The answer was Matthew 19:21, Jesus’s call to the rich young man: sell everything and give to the poor. Waldo took the answer literally.

On the Feast of the Assumption, around 1176, he divided his estate: he let his wife choose between the real estate and the movable goods, made restitution to those he had wronged through his former practice of usury, placed his two daughters in a convent, and distributed the rest to the poor in the public square, in the midst of a famine gripping the city.

He then commissioned a translation of the Gospels into Franco-Provençal, the language the people of Lyon actually spoke, and began preaching voluntary poverty in the streets. A group of laypeople gathered around him known as the Poor of Lyon, which spread through Lombardy and beyond.

Lay preaching without episcopal authorization shocked the hierarchy. In 1179, Waldo went to Rome and obtained from Pope Alexander III approval of his vow of poverty, but not of unordained preaching. He and his followers kept preaching anyway, and in 1184 they were excommunicated by Pope Lucius III at the Synod of Verona: a rupture he had never sought, the result of placing his conviction above hierarchical obedience.

Persecuted and expelled from Lyon, he died in exile at an uncertain date, somewhere between 1205 and around 1218, without it being known precisely where. But the movement that began with his renunciation survived persecution, endured for centuries, and still exists today.

Waldo’s life reminds us that putting Scripture into the language of the people and entrusting laypeople with the task of proclaiming it is not a modern invention: it is an impulse as old as the gospel itself, and it still remains worth the price of giving up everything.

“No man can serve two masters, God and Mammon.”
Peter Waldo · Attributed to Peter Waldo as he distributed his goods in the public square in Lyon, on the Feast of the Assumption, around 1176, according to the Anonymous Chronicle of Laon (c. 1218), a contemporary source on his conversion.
Timeline
~1140

Birth

Probably in Lyon, in the kingdom of France.

~1173

Spiritual crisis

He hears the story of Saint Alexius and is marked by the sudden death of a friend.

~1176

Public renunciation of wealth

He distributes his goods to the poor on the Feast of the Assumption, after consulting a master of Scripture about Matthew 19:21.

~1175-1180

Vernacular translation of the Gospels

He commissions the translation of the New Testament into Franco-Provençal.

~1170s

Formation of the Poor of Lyon

He gathers lay followers devoted to poverty and the preaching of Scripture.

1179

Journey to Rome

He is received by Pope Alexander III, who approves the vow of poverty but not lay preaching.

1180

Profession of faith

He writes a declaration of his convictions that survives to this day.

1184

Excommunication

He is excommunicated by Pope Lucius III at the Synod of Verona, along with his followers.

~1205 to ~1218, uncertain

Death in exile

Historians disagree between dates close to 1205 and later dates, up to around 1218; the location is also uncertain.

Works and milestones

Translation of the New Testament into Franco-Provençal

~1175-1180

He commissioned the translation of the Gospels and other biblical texts into the vernacular language spoken in Lyon, one of the earliest known efforts to put Scripture into the language of the people outside of Latin.

Public renunciation of wealth

~1176

On the Feast of the Assumption, he distributed his goods to the poor in the public square, after setting aside a portion for his wife and placing his daughters in a convent.

Founding of the Poor of Lyon

~1170s

He gathered around him a lay group devoted to voluntary poverty and the preaching of Scripture in the streets, with no ties to official religious orders.

Audience with Pope Alexander III

1179

He traveled to Rome with a disciple and obtained papal approval of his vow of poverty, though not authorization for lay preaching.

Written profession of faith

1180

He wrote a profession of faith that survives to this day as a record of his doctrinal convictions.

Spread of the movement across Europe

1170s-1180s

The group he started spread through Lombardy, Piedmont, and other regions, giving rise to what would become known as the Waldensian movement.

Contributions
1

Scripture in the language of the people

By commissioning the translation of the Gospels into Franco-Provençal, Waldo anticipated by centuries the principle that the Bible should be accessible in the language people actually speak and understand.

2

Lay preaching

He held that ordinary Christians, without clerical ordination, could read, teach, and proclaim the Scriptures, a principle the hierarchy of his time rejected but that would later echo in the Reformation.

3

Voluntary poverty as testimony

He made material renunciation a visible sign of conversion, inspiring a lay movement of simplicity that stood apart from both the wealthy clergy and the nobility.

4

Origin of a tradition that endures

The movement he started gave rise to the Waldensians, communities that endured centuries of persecution and later drew close to the Protestant Reformation.

Missionary legacy

Before Wycliffe, Luther, or Tyndale, Waldo already held that the gospel needs to reach people in their own language to transform lives.

His conviction that any believer can proclaim the Scriptures, without depending on formal ecclesiastical structure, still inspires lay witness today in contexts with little access to trained pastors or missionaries.

The Waldensian communities survived centuries of persecution, a reminder that faithfulness to the gospel sometimes requires perseverance across generations before recognized fruit appears.

His story shows that renouncing material security for the sake of God's call remains a legitimate path for anyone today considering giving up everything to serve in mission.

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