BASIN, THOMAS. - French chronicler, bishop of Lisieux, born at Caudebec (Seine-Inférieure) apparently in 1412, died at Utrecht in 1490 or 1491. He studied law at Paris, Louvain, and Padua. At Rome he was esteemed by Eugenio IV. Having become a priest, he attended various councils, held offices and benefices, was sent to Hungary, was offered the chair of law at the English University of Caen, and, in 1447, was appointed bishop of Lisieux. From then on his life became wholly bound up with that of his diocese. He negotiated the surrender of Caen to Carlo VII, whose influential adviser he became. He was one of the bishops charged with reviewing the trial of Giovanna d'Arco. Persecuted by Luigi XI, like most of those faithful to his father, he was forced to flee into exile.
His principal works are a History of the reigns of Carlo VII and Luigi XI, and a memorandum for the rehabilitation of Giovanna d'Arco.