Cornelius Jansen the Elder[a] (Dutch: [ˈjɑnsə(n)]; 1510 – 11 April 1576) was a Catholic exegete and the first Bishop of Ghent.

[1] After he had become a licentiate of theology in 1534, at the request of the abbot of the Premonstratensian 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.

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. As bishop he devoted himself especially to checking the advance of Protestantism, 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 in the Geeraard de Duivelsteen, held diocesan synods in 1571 and 1574, and published a ritual for his diocese.

[3] His Commentarius in omnes Psalmos Davidicos (Leuven, 1569) gives an introduction to each psalm, a paraphrase of the text, and explanations of the difficult passages.