On a balmy evening in late summer, a thickly wooded area near the shore of Lake Geneva is filling up with men. By the time the moon is high, the woods rustle with the quiet movements of some nine hundred, all armed.
Pastor Arnaud addresses the blended group of Waldensian and Huguenot volunteers. If anyone is afraid of the rack and the gallows, he tells them, they should turn back. If they wish to go on, they should sweat to fight faithfully to the death...
Arnaud and the nine-hundred kneel and pray at the lakes edge. A low voice and the sound of water lapping fill the night. There are muted...