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Mapes says the "Valdesians" earnestly requested to have authority to preach, but that they met with a bad reception, and "retired from the Council in the midst of shouts of derision." Stephen of Borbon puts it on record, that they were condemned as heretics and schismatics. Moneta intimates that "Valdesius" received a license to preach, and the Chronicler of Laon affirms, that at the very Council which condemned heretics, and those who defended them, "the Pope embraced Valdesius, and approved of his vows of poverty, but forbad him to preach except at the request of the priesthood:" and he adds, "this injunction was obeyed for a short time, but was afterwards violated, to the scandal of many, and his own ruin." But there are agreements in these narratives, from which we can gather evidence in favour of Waldo, and of the integrity of his intentions.

Heretics were condemned at that Council, but not Waldo and his followers, because they had not yet done anything to deserve that reproach2. Waldo's first proceedings were far from schismatical, and his desire to produce a faithful translation of Scripture is attested by the pains

1 "Hii multa petebant instantia prædicationis auctoritatem sibi confirmari, quia periti sibi videbantur, cum vix essent scioli.”—“ Et ab omnibus multiplici sunt clamore derisi, confusique recesserunt.”—MS. Bodl. 851. Ussher's citation does not include the last part of Mapes'

statement.

2 On referring to the "Sacrosancta Concilia" of Labbe, I find no mention of the "Waldenses" in the twenty-eighth Canon, De Hæreticis, of the Lateran Council, held in 1179.—“Ita hæreticorum quos alii Catharos, alii Patrinos, alii Publicanos, alii aliis nominibus vocant." Vol. x. p. 1522.

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But in the notes of Binius, pages 1531, 1532, to the words " quos alii Waldenses, et Albigenses alii appellant," we read: Waldenses, ita Bellarminus, Genebrardus, Onufrius, aliique plures, nescio quo autore." In a subsequent note from Binius, p. 1533, it is stated that the Abbot of Urspergh, in his Chronicle under the year 1212, makes mention of the Poor Men of Lyons" being condemned as heretics by Pope Lucius III. The abbot attests to his having seen some of them at Rome. "Vidimus

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he took to have the work well done, and to obtain the Papal sanction to it.

It is an extraordinary fact, well worth remark in this disquisition, that according to the Chronicler of Laon, Waldo's thoughts were first turned to serious subjects by a Troubadour who was reciting a poem in the streets of Lyons, called the "Life of Alexis'," a rhapsody in praise of voluntary poverty. The merchant invited the Troubadour to his house, and was so moved by his religious conversation, that he went the next morning to the School of Theology to consult a celebrated master, for guidance on the way of salvation. His spiritual adviser referred him to our Lord's exhortation: "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell all thou hast, and give to the poor." Waldo acted up to the precept with such enthusiastic devotedness, that he sent his two daughters to the convent of Font Everard, and gave so abundantly to the poor2, that the archbishop

tunc temporis aliquos de numero illorum, qui dicebantur 'Pauperes de Lugduno' apud sedem Apostolicam, cum magistro suo quodam, ut puto, Bernhardo." Was this Bernard Ydros, who was afterwards beneficed at Lyons, and who may have deserted Waldo and his former associates?

In col. 1737 of the same volume of Labbe's Concilia, we have the decree of Pope Lucius, anno 1183, against Pauperes de Lugduno. The probability therefore is, that the followers of Waldo, called “Pauperes de Lugduno," were condemned as heretics for the first time by Lucius III. in 1183, and not by Alexander III. in 1179.

1 For this poem, see Lexique Ronian, par M. Raynouard, Vol. 1. p. 575. -Many of the wandering Troubadours were men of deep piety, and when their harps and their songs obtained admission for them either into the castles of the barons, the houses of merchants, or the cottages of the peasants, they took advantage of the opportunity, and introduced topics of sacred truth.

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Currente adhuc anno eodem Incarnationis 1173, fuit apud Lugdunum Galliæ civis quidam Valdesius nomine, qui per iniquitatem fænoris multas sibi pecunias coacervaverat. Is quadem die Dominica cum declinasset ad turbam quam ante Joculatorem viderat congregatam, ex verbis ipsius compunctus fuit, et eum ad domum suam deducens, intense eum audire curavit. Fuit enim locus narrationis ejus qualiter beatus Alexis in domo patris sui beato fine quievit. Facto mane, civis memoratus ad Scholas Theologiæ consilium animæ suæ quæsiturus properavit: et de

of Lyons remonstrated with him on his profuseness. But he persevered in performing acts of charity and munificence; and doubtless the translation of the sacred books, with the assistance of two priests paid by him, was undertaken from the purest and most generous motives. Whether he himself, or his disciples, (according to Mapes), presented the volume containing a Romaunt Version of portions of Scripture to the Pope, such a presentation must have been made under the persuasion that it was a faithful and not an heretical translation; that it was such a translation as the sovereign pontiff would not condemn.

Let us now see what can be alleged in support of the supposition, that the Romaunt Version1 according to the multis modis eundi ad Deum edoctus, quæsivit a Magistro quæ via aliis omnibus certior esset atque perfectior. Cui Magister Dominicam sententiam proposuit: Si vis esse perfectus, vade et vende omnia quæ habes, &c. Et ad uxorem veniens dedit ei optionem ut sibi mobilia vel immobilia omnium quæ habebat in terris et aquis, nemoribus et pratis, in domibus, redditibus, et vineis, nec non in molendinis et furnis, eligeret retinendum: quæ licet multum contristata, quia id facere oportuit, immobilibus hæsit. Is vero de mobilibus, iis a quibus injuste habuerat reddidit. Magnam vero partem pecuniæ suis duabus parvulis filiabus contulit, quas, matre earum ignorante, ordine Fontis-Evraldi mancipavit: maximam vero partem in usus pauperum expendit." Chronicon Anonymi Canonici Laudunensis. Recueil des Hist. Vol. XI. p. 680.

1 The Latin text called the Vulgate is allowed to be Jerome's text, notwithstanding the many variations in the several copies and editions of it and Mr Baber, in the preface to his edition of Wiclif's New Testament, makes an observation which I gladly apply in justification of my own Title-page, "The Romaunt Version of the Gospel according to St John." "The MSS. of this version (Wiclif's) are so numerous, that copies of them are not uncommon in the libraries of the British Museum, Lambeth Palace, Sion College, &c. Though all these MSS. lay claim to the title of Wiclif's English Version of the Bible, yet there are a few amongst them which differ so materially from the rest, as to warrant the assertion that we enjoy two ancient English translations of the Scriptures. In some passages we trace no other similarity between these versions, than that which arises from the circumstance of their being made from one common original, the Latin Vulgate, but in general we discover features of resemblance between them so numerous and so striking, that it is most clear that the author of the later translation not only saw, but copied very freely from that which had been previously completed." Baber's Preface to the New Testament translated by Wiclif, p. lxix.

text, which is exhibited in the copies of the New Testament preserved at Dublin, Paris, Grenoble, Zurich, and Lyons, may have been wholly or partially the production of Waldo and his associates.

It is stated by Stephen of Borbon that the same persons, who translated many books of the Bible, translated also many treatises of holy men (Sanctorum), arranged under titles which they called Sentences1. If then we can find any Romaunt treatises, which in style and dialect bear a strong resemblance to any Romaunt translation of Scripture, we may fairly attribute them to the same authorship. Such treatises do make their appearance under the name of "Waldensian Treatises." Some of these are entitled: De li pecca de la lenga. Del pecca de Superbia. Cubiticia. Vana Gloria. Pecca Mortal. De la Meczonia. Del Jurament. De la Luxuria. Deli Parlar deli Philosophes. li sept Sacrament. De li parlar d'alcuns Doctori. Baptisme de Penetencia.

Del Dejuni. Del Almona.

Goy de Paradis. Penas Infernals: and others2.

De

Del

De li

The affinity which these bear to the Romaunt translations of Scripture in the Dublin, Grenoble, and Zurich MSS. is not only evident in their grammatical and etymological construction and character, but also in the identity of the scriptural passages which they cite, with the texts of the Dublin, Grenoble, and Zurich copies of the New Testament. For example:

The tract De li Perilh cites Scrip

ture thus:

"Cum lo filh de la vergena es

avenir en la gloria del seo payre

cum li seo angel."

In the Dublin MS. of the New Testament, Matt. xvi. 27, we read:

"Car lo filh de la vergena es avenir en la gloria del seo payre cum li seo angel."

1 66 Similiter multos libros Bibliæ, et auctoritates Sanctorum multas per titulos congregatas, quas sententias appellabant." Stephen de Borbon. See supra, p. xci.

2 See Ussher's Collection of MSS. Trin. Col. Dublin.

For other instances of this resemblance, see supra, p. xli. Moneta records Waldo's declaration before the Pope, that he would be observant of the precepts of the four doctors, Ambrose, Augustin, Gregory, and Jerome1. Now the Fathers, to whom reference is most frequently made in those Waldensian Treatises, which bear marks of the greatest antiquity, are Saints Ambrose, Augustin, Jerome, and Gregory, together with Chrysostom, Isidore, and sometimes Bernard.

Moreover, many of these Treatises, containing the authorities and sentences of the Fathers, bear the very titles which the statement of Stephen of Borbon, confirmed by that of Moneta, prepare us to look for. It was very much the practice of theologians in the middle ages to circulate tracts composed of passages from the Latin Fathers, and Waldo was likely to follow their example, and to make use of such as were in vogue.

There are several collections of this sort in Public Libraries; in the MS. Library at Durham for example. One is as old as the times of William of Carileph, who died Bishop of Durham, 1096, and contains, "Tractatus S. Ambrosii de Penitentia;" "Tractatus S. Ambrosii de Paradiso;" "Augustinus Doctor, de decem Chordis." See Catalogus Cod. Man. Eccles. Cath. Dunelm. pp. 102, 103.

Another, not so old, is entitled "Excerpta ex Patribus Latinis de septem vitiis mortalibus." "Intentio nostra in isto opere est colligere de libris originalium 4 Doctorum, Augustini, Hieronymi, Ambrosii, Gregori, et copulare sub compendio dicta eorum2." Augustin's tracts "De Mendacio," "Contra Mendacium," "De Gaudiis Paradisi," &c. were in circulation as separate treatises in the middle

1 "Et promisit servare quatuor Doctores, scilicet Ambrosium, Augustinum, Gregorium, et Hieronymum." Moneta, lib. v. c. 1.

2 Catalogus Cod. Man. Eccl. Cath. Dunelm. p. 250. Wiclif's Trialogus, Lib. III. contains references to similar collections.

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