During the 11th and 12th centuries we can read about a very interesting and somewhat mysterious figure. He is referred to by many names, such as Valdes, Valdesius, Valdensius and Waldo (Waldo), from the city of Lyon. Although references to Waldo and his (Waldensian) followers always seem in the shadows, difficult to understand and always subjected to persecution, they appear to have been in the vanguard of the Reformation. According to the "Anonymous Writer of Passau", some would have attempted to trace the origins of the Waldensians back to the apostolic age. Most have given up on this theory, due to the investigations of many German scholars. The first Waldensian sources are few and unreliable and not much is known about the founder. Even his name is shrouded in mystery. The story goes that Waldo and his followers were preaching in the streets of Lyon and the bishop of Lyon asked him to stop. Waldo's response was a quote from Peter. He replied, “they should obey God rather than men.” Having mentioned Peter, the name Peter became attached to his. Although slight and subtle, Peter Waldo and his followers had an impact on the Christian world of his time, sending ripples through history that can still be felt in Christianity today. Waldo's actions and opinions are shrouded in mystery because neither he nor his movement's contemporaries ever told stories about their lives. This may have been due in part to the fact that many of his early followers were ordinary, ignorant and illiterate people. One account tells us that Waldo was stimulated to religious zeal by the sudden death of a prominent member of the city of Lyon, which he witnessed. Then he heard a ballad sung by a minstrel in the public square... in the middle of the paper... the promise that Christ once made. “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). Works Cited Cameron, Euan. “The Reformation of the Heretics: The Waldenses of the Alps, 1480-1580. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984Tourn, Giorgio. “The Waldensians: The First 800 Years (1174-1974). Translated from Italian by Camilo P. Merlino, Charles W. Arbuthnot, editor. Turin, Italy: Claudiana Editrice, 1980.FsDennis H. McCallum “The Waldensian Movement: From Waldo to theReformation” 2- January, 1987The Editors of the Encyclopedia Britannica “Waldenses” Britannica online. Web.17 July 2014Stong, CH “A Brief Sketch of the Waldensians. London: Lawrence, Kansas:JS Boughton Publishing Co., 1893Justo L. Gonzalez “The History of Christianity: From the Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation” HarperCollins, New York NY, 2010