High Middle Ages

====Waldensians====
{{Main|Waldensians}}
[[Peter Waldo]] of [[Lyon]] was a wealthy merchant who gave up his riches around 1175 after a religious experience and became a preacher. He founded the Waldensians which became a Christian sect believing that all religious practices should have strictly scriptural bases. Waldo was denied the right to preach his sermons by the Third Lateran Council in 1179, which he did not obey and continued to speak freely until he was excommunicated in 1184. Waldo was critical of the Christian clergy saying they did not live according to the word. He rejected the practice of selling indulgences ([[simony]]), as well as the common saint cult practices of the day.

Waldensians are considered a forerunner to the [[Protestant Reformation]], and they melted into [[Protestantism]] with the outbreak of the Reformation and became a part of the wider [[Reformed tradition]] after the views of [[John Calvin]] and his theological successors in [[Geneva]] proved very similar to their own theological thought. Waldensian churches still exist, located on several continents.