Cornelius Jansen the Elder (; 1510 – 11 April 1576) was a Catholic exegete and the first

Bishop of Ghent The Diocese of Ghent (Latin: ''Dioecesis Gandavensis'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolis (religious jurisdiction), metropol ...

. According to M.A. Screech, Jansen is considered by many to be the most outstanding Roman Catholic biblical scholar of his age.Schreech, M.A., ''Laughter At The Foot Of The Cross'', Chapter 6, Routledge, 2019
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Life

He received his early education at Ghent from the

Brethren of the Common Life The Brethren of the Common Life (, FVC) was a Roman Catholic pietist religious community founded in the Netherlands in the 14th century by Gerard Groote, formerly a successful and worldly educator who had had a religious experience and preached a ...

(called at Ghent the Hieronymites), and later studied theology and

Semitic languages The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. They include Arabic, Amharic, Tigrinya language, Tigrinya, Aramaic, Hebrew language, Hebrew, Maltese language, Maltese, Modern South Arabian language ...

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. He was a good Greek scholar. After he had become a licentiate of theology in 1534, at the request of the abbot of the

Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular in the Catholic Chur ...

Abbey of Tongerloo, he lectured on the Holy Scripture, to the young monks until 1542, from which date until 1562 he discharged the duties of pastor of the parish of St. Martin at

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; or ''Kortrik''; ), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of We ...

. Having finally attained the degree of

Doctor of Theology Doctor of Theology (, abbreviated DTh, ThD, DTheol, or Dr. theol.) is a terminal degree in the academic discipline of theology. The ThD, like the ecclesiastical Doctor of Sacred Theology, is an advanced research degree equivalent to the Doctor o ...

in 1562, he was immediately appointed professor of theology at the

Old University of Leuven The Old University of Leuven (or of Louvain) is the name historians give to the Medieval university, university, or ''studium generale'', founded in Leuven, Duchy of Brabant, Brabant (then part of the Burgundian Netherlands, now part of Belgium ...

, became in the following year dean of the collegiate seminary of St. James, and attended the last sessions of the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent (), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation at the time, it has been described as the "most ...

as delegate of the university.Schlager, Patricius. "Cornelius Jansen, the Elder." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 27 January 2021 On his return,

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appointed him first bishop of the newly founded See of Ghent, which dated only from 1559. For a long time he refused to assume the dignity, on account of the difficult conditions in the diocese, and was not preconized until 1568, by

Pope Pius V Pope Pius V, OP (; 17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (and from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 January 1566 to his death, in May 1572. He was an ...

. As bishop he devoted himself especially to checking the advance of

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

, and to carrying out the decrees of the Council of Trent. With this object in view, in 1569, he founded the

Major Seminary of Ghent The Major Seminary in Ghent was an institution for the training of Catholic clergy for the diocese of Ghent, first founded in 1569. It has been established at three different locations in the city. Since 2006 diocesan clergy from Ghent have been tra ...

in the Geeraard de Duivelsteen, held diocesan synods in 1571 and 1574, and published a ritual for his diocese. He was entrusted with the compilation of a ritual to be used in the ecclesiastical province of

Mechlin Mechelen (; ; historically known as ''Mechlin'' in EnglishMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical context. T ...

, but did not finish it.

Works

While at Tongerloo, Jansen wrote a great deal; as pastor at

, he had already become widely known for his exegetical work. Among Jansen's writings is the (Leuven, 1529 and 1549). To this he later added the (Leuven, 1572), his major work. In his

exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (philosophy), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern us ...

, Jansen set aside the mystical interpretation of his predecessors, in favor of a more literal interpretation with an emphasis on the original text. His study of

allowed him to reach a fuller comprehension of the

Latin Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Roman Church. Later, of his own initia ...

. Jansen's (Leuven, 1567) and (Leuven, 1569) were republished in one work at Antwerp in 1589. His (Leuven, 1569) gives an introduction to each psalm, a paraphrase of the text, and explanations of the difficult passages. He also published (Leuven, 1569), and, posthumously, (Leuven, 1577). '' Tetrateuchus sive Commentarius in sancta Jesu Christi Euangelia'' was also later published (Brussel, 1728) Digitalized work available at KU Leuven Collections
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Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jansen, Cornelius (1510-1576) 1510 births 1576 deaths 16th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Holy Roman Empire Bishops of Ghent Belgian biblical scholars Roman Catholic biblical scholars 16th-century Dutch Roman Catholic theologians Participants in the Council of Trent People from Hulst Old University of Leuven alumni Academic staff of the Old University of Leuven