humiliating restraints that dated back essentially to 1561.
The Waldensian Churches of c. 1800 were following the worship and beliefs of Reformed Protestantism. Yet a historical perception grew that this‘ Calvinist’ character of their life and belief had developed late. It was believed that the loss of many of their pastors in 1630 during the Italian plague of 1629 – 31 made it necessary to replace the pastorate with French-speaking trainees from the Genevan academy. The influence of Genevan ministers from Rev. Nigel Uden and Euan Cameron. the 1550s was not at that time recognised. Around 1800 candidates for the Waldensian pastorate were studying at Lausanne, where Unitarian ideas were making inroads into orthodoxy and worrying conservatives.
England had long supported the Waldensian communities. Following the notorious massacres of 1655, much money was raised by the regime of Oliver Cromwell by public subscription. Some was intended to support an annual grant, which was rescinded by Charles II but revived under Queen Anne. A regular grant to‘ enable the Vaudois to maintain their Ministers, Churches, Schools, and Poor’ was re-established in 1768 under George III, but ceased in 1797 once Piedmont fell under French control. The loss of that grant impoverished the Church: so, from the end of hostilities in 1815 a campaign was mounted in England to have the grant restored. A series of pamphlets by supporters such as Sims( 1815), Lowther( 1821) and Acland( 1825) brought the needs of the communities to public attention and called, unsuccessfully, for the restoration of the royal grant.
By far the most influential work in arousing interest in England was the Narrative of an Excursion to the Mountains of Piemont in the year MDCCCXXIII, first published by Rev. William Stephen Gilly( 1789 – 1855) in 1824. It was a
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