LYDIUS, Balthasar.

On the origins of Protestantism: the Waldensians and Hussites, Waldensia id est, conservatio verae ecclesiae, demonstrata ex confessionibus, cum Taboritarum, ante CC ferè annos, tum Bohemorum, circa tempora Reformationis, scriptis.

      Joannes Leonardus Berewout, B3KGXC1IF05P, Rotterdam (vol. 1) & Dordrecht (vol. 2), - 2 vols. 8vo. Contemporarry overlapping vellum with titles in ink on spines, rests of ties. With woodcut printer's device on both titles, woodcut initials. (16, including last blank leaf), 415, (16), 367; (40, incl. last blank leaf), (48, incl. last blank leaf), 358, (4), (12), 262 (irregular pagination/foliation in the beginning). Original edition of this important work containing several texts on the history of the Waldensians, including their Confession, edited and extensively commented upon by the orthodox Dordrecht minster Balthasar Lydius (1576-1629) with the intention to trace the origins of Protestantism: the Waldensians in south France from the 11th century onwards, and the Hussites in Bohemia.The Waldensians, Waldenses or Vaudois are names for a Christian spiritual movement of the later Middle Ages, descendants of which still exist in various regions. Over time, the denomination joined the Genevan or Reformed branch of Protestantism. They were persecuted as heretical before the 16th century, endured near annihilation in the 17th century, and were then confronted with organized and generalized discrimination in centuries that followed. The earliest Waldensians believed in poverty and austerity, promoting true poverty, public preaching and the personal study of the scriptures. The sect originated in the late 12th century as the Poor Men of Lyons, a band organized by Peter Waldo, a wealthy merchant of Lyon, who gave away his property around 1177 and went about preaching apostolic poverty as the way to perfection In 1179, they went to Rome, where Pope Alexander III blessed their life but forbade preaching without authorization from the local clergy. They disobeyed and began to preach according to their own understanding of scripture. Seen by the Roman Catholic Church as unorthodox, they were formally declared heretics by Pope Lucius III in 1184 and by the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215. The Waldensian Church of Italy has survived to the present day.A second edition of vol. 1 appeared in 1622.Contents:Vol. 1, part 1: - p. (3-12): Dedication to the States of Holland and West-Friesland by Lydius, dated Dordrecht 8 March 1616.- p. (13-14): Preface (p. 15-16 blank).- p. 1-303: Johannes Lukawitz, Confessio Taboritarum, contra Rokenzanam & papistas Pragenses, ante duo fermè saecula conscripta.- p. 304-53: Articuli magistrorum et sacerdotum antiquae civitatis Pragensis, per regnum Bohemiae, sub anno Domini millesimo quadringentesimo tricesimo secundo evulgati, with a preface by Balthasar Lydius.- p. 353-67: Articles of the Council helt at Prague in July 1421 ('Idem concilium Pragense hussitarum fide Cochlaei, quia à priori variat, apponibus .'). - - p. 368-415: Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini, Letter to Cardinal Johannes de Carvaial on the Confessio Taboritarum, dated 21 August 1451 (running title: 'Historia Bohemica'.- p. (1-15): Index, errata. Vol. 1, part 2: - p. 1-34: Confessio fidei, fratrum Waldensium, regi Vladislao ad Hungariam missa. - p. 34-92: Apologia verae doctrinae, eorum qui vulgo appellantur Waldenses vel Picardi, qui retinuerunt Johannis Hus doctrinam, cum S. Scriptura consentientem, oblata D. Georgio marchioni Brandebur. anno M.DXXXII, multis in locis aucta & recognita anno M.DXXXVIII. Ex bohemico exemplari translata in linguam latinam per Burigenum doctorem de Kornis &c.p. 93-367: Oeconomia locorum praecipuorum qui in hoc libro continentur, containing five chapters on the Waldensians, translated from the Bohemian language into Latin in 1538.Vol. 2, part 1:- p. (1-16): Preface by Balthasar Lydius to his commentary. - p. (17-38): extensive contents. (p. (39-40) blank).- p.(1-45): Prolegomena in disputationem Taboritarum. (p. 46-48 blank).- p. 1-358: Balthasar Lydius, Notae in disputationesritarum et Fratrum Bohemorum.- p. (1-3): 'Benevolo Lectori'. Vol. 2, part 2 With separate title-page: Confessio fidei ac religionis, baronum ac nobilium regni Bohemiae, Serenissimo ac invectissimo Ferdinando, Romanorum, Bohoemiae, &c