Jean L'Héritier (Lhéritier, Lirithier, Heritier and other spellings also exist) (c. 1480 – after 1551) was a French composer of the Renaissance.
After a stay in Ferrara, Duke Alfonso gave him leave to go back to France, but it is not known if he went; the next record of his life is from Rome, where he was in the employ of Pope Leo X in 1514.
In 1521 and 1522 he was maestro di cappella at San Luigi dei Francesi, the French church in Rome.
Often L'Héritier varied polyphonic with homophonic passages, a technique for achieving variety which was common among many Franco-Flemish composers of the time.
Occasionally L'Héritier wrote for many independent parts: for example, Locutus est Dominus is for nine voices (four to six was the norm).
L'Héritier was one of the leading figures in disseminating the Franco-Flemish style in Italy in the early 16th century, along with Willaert.
Since L'Héritier was mainly a composer of sacred music, and worked in Rome, leaving numerous compositions in the Vatican archive, he may have been one of the most influential northern musicians on the development of the later Palestrina style.