The Waldensian Evangelical Church (Chiesa Evangelica Valdese, CEV) is a Protestant denomination active in Italy and Switzerland that was independent until it united with the Methodist Evangelical Church in Italy in the Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches. Founded in the 12th century by Peter Waldo as a proto-Protestant group, since the 16th century Reformation it has adopted Calvinist theology and blended into the wider Calvinist tradition. It is one of several Protestant denominations with pre-Reformation roots, and is appraised by various denominations of Protestantism as its major successor.