OTHER-WORLDLY AND INNER-WORLDLY ASCETICISM IN MEDIEVAL WALDENSIANISM - A WEBERIAN ANALYSIS

Building on work by Weber and Troeltsch, this article examines other- and inner-worldly asceticism in Waldensianism, one of the largest hete rodox religious movements in the Middle Ages. To explain variation in the types and directions of religious conduct, the historical comparat ive analysis focuses on the interplay of ethics and organization in ea rly, later, and Austrian Waldensianism. Based on the exploration of la rgely primary sources, the article argues that asceticism in early and later Waldensianism was other-worldly and confined to Waldensian itin erant preachers. In the unique case of the Austrian Waldensians, ascet icism not only extended to lay congregations, but was also oriented to ward the secular sphere. For the Austrian Waldensians the world was a task and had to be mastered through diligent, methodical behavior. The Austrian Waldensians' rationalized conduct in the secular sphere was a form of inner-worldly asceticism that preceded ascetic Protestantism 's by more than three centuries.