III. Henry of Lausanne-Reformer Before Reformation

Another eloquent preacher was HENRY OF LAUSANNE (d. c. 1148). He was a man of deep learning and extraordinary oratorical powers, combined with marked modesty and piety. In 1101 he appeared in Le Mans and from the bishop obtained permission to preach. He preached against a formal Christianity and demanded the fruits of repentance. This led him to warn against false guides and against the reliance upon relics, indulgences, and the like.PFF1 812.1

He was a reformer before the Reformation, seeking a spiritual awakening and revival, and many were deeply influenced by him. He wandered through France, came to Languedoc, where he probably came in close touch with Peter of Bruys, and is thought to have worked with him. His followers were called the Henricians; and sometimes Albigensian notions were wrongly attributed to them. About 1135 he was arrested by the archbishop of Aries, and brought before the Synod of Pisa, which refused to condemn him. But he was sent to Bernard of Clairvaux for a while. Soon he departed from there and continued his work of preaching for another ten years. ^{6David S. Schaff, op. cit., part 1, pp. 483, 484; Albert H. Newman, op. cit., vol. 1, pp. 560, 561; A. Hauck, “Henry of Lausanne,” The New Schaff-Herzog, vol. 5, p. 228.}PFF1 812.2