Jacobus Latomus

Jacobus Latomus (or Jacques Masson) ( – 29 May 1544) was a Catholic Flemish theologian, a distinguished member of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Leuven. Latomus was a theological adviser to the Inquisition, and his exchange with William Tyndale is particularly noted. The general focus of his academic work centered on opposing Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation, supporting the papacy and the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. Erasmus referred facetiously to his opponent's limp, assigning him the epithet "Hephestion", a reference to the crippled metal-smith of Greek mythology. indeed, he has been labeled "the greatest heresy-hunter in Europe" among his contemporaries. Despite his fearsome academic reputation, his responses to William Tyndale were both precise and courteous.

Tyndale set out his views in writing, and Latomus answered them; Tyndale in turn produced a book in two parts as a reply, a work which is now lost.