The role of Waldensian women in writing about the past and building the future

The image and role of the women are here analysed closely, drawing on a muc h-overlooked but well-known source which codified both, when oral testimoni es in the Waldensian tradition were put into writing. In 1587 in his Histor ia breve et vera degl' affari dei Valdesi delle Valli, G. Miolo brought tog ether events from a past which had to be coherent with the choice, present and future, facing Waldensians concerning their commitment to the Reformati on. This resulted in a collection of tales both real and imaginary telling of an epic struggle in which the women, whether protagonists of secondary f igures, are not overlooked.