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VAUDEMONT, a town of France, in the department 

 of the Meurte ; 4 miles S. of Vezelize. 



V7\UDEVILLE, a fong fung in the ftreets by ballad- 

 Jingers, the fubjecl of which is generally jocofe or fatirical. 

 The origin of this little kind of poem is traced up to the 

 time of Charlemagne. But according to the more general 

 opinion, it was invented by a certain man of the name of 

 BafTeiin, Foulon de Vere in Normandy ; and in order to 

 dance, as people ufed to aflemble in the Val de Vire, they 

 were called Vaux de Vire, and afterwards, by corruption. 

 Vaudevilles. 



The air of thefe Vaudevilles is generally very unmufical. 

 But as people merely liilen to the words, the tune only 

 lielps to enforce the voice and render the words more au- 

 ; dible. But, as mufic, there is in general neither tafte, me- 

 \ lody, nor meafure in their tunes. The Vaudeville, with 

 refpeA to the words, belongs exclufively to the French, and 

 they are fometimes very piquant and pleafant. Rouffeau. 



VAUDIER, in Geography, a town of France, in the 

 department of the Stura, late in the province of Coni ; 5 

 miles S.E. of Demont. 



VAUDOIS, Valdense5, or Waldenfes, in Ecclefiajlical 

 Hiflory, a name given to a fett of reformers, who made their 

 iixit appearance about the year i i6o. 



Of all the fefts that arofe in this century, none was more 



, diftinguifhed by the reputation it acquired, by the multitude 



' of its votaries, and the teflimony which its bitterefl enemies 



' bore to the probity and innocence of its members, than that 



of the IValdenfes, fo called, fays Mofheim, from their parent 



and founder Peter Waldus, or Valdus. They were alfo called 



Leonijh, from Leona, the ancient name of Lyons, where 



their foft took its rife. The more eminent perfons of that 



feci manifeftcd their progrefs towards perfection by the fim- 



plicity and mcannefs of their external appearance : hence, 



among other things, they wore wooden (hoes, which, in the 



French language, are termed, fahots, and had imprinted upon 



thefe fhoes the fign of the crofs, to diflinguilli themfelves 



from other Chriflians ; and on thefe accounts they acquired 



the denomination of Sabbatati and Infabbatati. 



The origin of this famous fetl, according to Mofheim, 

 was as follows : Peter, an opulent merchant of Lyons, fur- 

 named Valdenfis, or Validifius, from Vaux, or Waldum, a 

 town in the marquifate of Lyons, being extremely zealous 

 for the advancement of true piety and Chriftian knowledge, 

 employed a certain prieil, called Stephanus de Evifa, about 

 the year 1160, in tranflating from Latin into French the 

 four Gofpels, with other books of Holy Scripture, and the 

 moft remarkable fentences of the ancient doftors, which 

 were fo highly efteemed in this century. But no foonerhad 

 he perufed thefe facred books with a proper degree of atten- 

 tioiT, than he perceived that the religion, which was now 

 taught in the Roman church, differed totally from that which 

 was originally inculcated by Chriit; and his apoftles. Struck 

 ■with this glaring contradidion between the doftrines of the 

 pontiffs, and the truths of the Gofpel, and animated with 

 zeal, he abandoned his mercantile vocation, diftributed his 

 riches amon<T the poor (whence the Waldenfes were called 

 poor men of Lyons ) , and forming an aifociation with other pious 

 men, who had adopted his fentiments and his turn of devo- 

 tion, he began, in the year 1180, to affume the quality of a 

 public teacher, .wd to inftruft the multitude in thedoftrines 

 and precepts of Chriilianity. 



Beza, and other writers of note, who are followed by 

 Dr. Macleane, the learned tranflator of Mofheim's Hiftory, 

 give different accounts of the origin of the Waldenfes ; alleg- 

 ing, that it feems evident from the beft records, that Valdus 

 derived his name from the true Valdenfes of Piedmont, 



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whofe doftrine he adopted, and who were known by the 

 names of Vaudois and Valdenfes, before he or his immediate 

 followers exifted. If the Valdenfes or Waldenfes had de- 

 rived their name from an eminent teacher, it would pro- 

 bably have been from Valdo, who was remarkable for the 

 purity of his doftrine in the eleventh century, and v/as the 

 contemporary and chief counfellor of Berengarius. But the 

 truth is, that they derive their name from their ijaUeys in 

 Piedmont, which in their language were called vaux, and 

 hence Vaudois, their true name ; hence alfo Peter, or, as 

 others call him, John of Lyons, was called in Latin Valdus, 

 bccaufe he had adopted their doftrine ; and her.ce the term 

 Valdenfes or IValdenfes, ufed, by thofe who write in Englilh 

 or Latin, in the place of Vaudois. The bloody inquifitor, 

 Reinerus Sacco, who exerted fuch a furious zeal for the 

 deftruftion of the Waldenfes, lived but eighty years after 

 Valdus of Lyons, and muft, therefore, be fuppofed to know 

 whether or not he was the real founder of the Valdenfes or 

 Leonifts ; and yet it is remarkable, that he fpeaks of the 

 Leonifts as a fed that had flouridied above five hundred 

 years ; and mentions authors of note to make their antiquity 

 afcend to the apoftolic age. See the account given of Sacco's 

 book by the jefuit Gretfer, in the Bibliotheca Patrum. See 

 alfo Leger's Hiftoire Gen. des Egliffes Vaudoifes, cap. 2. 

 25, 26, 27. 



But to return to the hittory of Peter Valdus. Soon after 

 Peter had aflumed the exercife of his miniftry, the arch- 

 bifhop of Lyons, and the other rulers of the church in that 

 province, vigoroufly oppofed him. However, their oppofi- 

 tion was untuccefsful ; for the purity and fimplicity of that 

 religion which thefe good men taught, the fpotlefs innocence 

 that (hone forth in their lives and aftions, and the noble con- 

 tempt of riches and honours, which was confpicuous in the 

 whole of their conduft and converfation, appeared fo engag- 

 ing to all fuch as had any feiife of true piety, that the num- 

 ber of their followers daily increafed. They accordingly 

 formed religious affemblies in France, and afterwards in 

 Lombardy, from whence they propagated their feft through- 

 out the other provinces of Europe with incredible rapidity, 

 and with fuch invincible fortitude, that neither fire, nor 

 fword, nor the moft cruel inventions of mcrcilefs perfecution, 

 could damp their zeal, or entirely ruin their caufc. 



The attempts of Peter Waldus, and his followers, were 

 neither employed nor defigned to introduce new doftrines 

 into the church, nor to propofe new articles of faith to 

 Chriftians. All they aimed at was, to reduce the form of 

 ecclcfiaftical government, and the manners both of the 

 clergy and people, to that amiable fimplicity, and primitive 

 fanftity, that charadlerized the apoftolic ages, and which 

 appear fo ftrongly recommended in the precepts and in- 

 juntlions of the divine Author of our holy religion. la 

 confequence of this defign, they complained tliat the Ro- 

 man church had degenerated, under Conft.intine the Great, 

 from its primitive purity and fanftity. They denied the fu- 

 premacy of the Roman pontiff; and maintained, that the 

 rulers and minifters of the church were obliged, by their vo- 

 cation, to imitate the poverty of the apoftles, and to procure 

 for themfelves a fubfiftence by the work of their hands. 

 They confidered every Chriftian as, in a certain meafure, 

 qualitied and authorized to inttruft, exhort, and confam 

 the brethren in their Chriftian courfe, and demanded the 

 reftoration of the ancient penitential difcipline of the church, 

 i. e. the expiation of tranfgreffions by prayer, fafting, and 

 alms, which the new-invented doArine of indulgences had 

 almoft totally abolifhcd. They, at the fame time, affirmed, 

 that every pious Chriftian was qualified and entitled to pre- 

 fcribe to the penitent the kind or degree of fatisfaftion or 

 4 O 2 expiation 



