At the head of one of these parties was Claude, Bishop of Turin, who flourished in the commencement of the seventh century. It does not appear that this bold reformer ever separated wholly from the Church of Rome, but he denounced many of her corruptions and abominations in no measured terms, and had many followers. From the death of this eminent man until the time of Peter Waldo, of Lyons, the history of this people is involved in much obscurity. If they possessed any writers among themselves capable of giving their transactions to posterity, or if any records of their ecclesiastical affairs were committed to writing, the barbarous zeal of their opponents has prevented their transmission to our times. To the accounts of their adversaries, therefore, we must look for proofs of their existence, and here they are abundant. They are, also, uniformly represented as separated in faith and practice from the Catholic Church, and as continually multiplying in number; but further than this we have of them very imperfect statements. During all this period the popes appear to have been too intent upon their own pleasures, and too much engaged by their own quarrels, to interfere with the despised Waldenses, and it was not until the twelfth century, that these people appear in history as obnoxious to the court of Rome. About this time one Peter Waldo, an opulent merchant of Lyons, in France, made an attack upon the superstitions of the Romish church, particularly the monstrous doctrine of transubstantiation. He commenced by causing a translation of the four gospels to be made into French, which he circulated extensively among his countrymen, particularly those of the poorer class. He soon became a preacher, gathered a large church in his native city, from which, a few years after, himself and his adherents were driven by the anathemas of the Pope. Waldo, with his numerous followers, retired into Dauphiny, where his preaching was attended with abundant success. His principles were embraced by multitudes, who were denominated Leonists, Vaudois, Waldenses, etc.; for the very same class of Christians were designated by all these different appellations at different times, and according to the different countries in which they appeared.