Josse van Clichtove

Who was Josse van Clichtove?

Josse van Clichtove, Belgian theologian, received his education at Leuven and at Paris under Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples.

He became librarian of the Sorbonne and tutor to the nephews of Jacques d'Amboise, bishop of Clermont and abbot of Cluny. In 1519 he was elected bishop of Tournai, and in 1521 was translated to the see of Chartres. He is best known as a distinguished antagonist of Martin Luther, against whom he wrote a good deal.

When Cardinal Duprat convened his Synod of Paris in 1528 to discuss the new religion, Clichtove was summoned and was entrusted with the task of collecting and summarizing the objections to the Lutheran doctrine. This he did in his Compendium veritatum ... contra erroneas Lutheranorum assertiones. He died at Chartres on 22 September 1543.