BASIN, THOMAS. - French chronicler, bishop of Lisieux, born at Caudebec (Seine-Inférieure) probably in 1412, died at Utrecht in 1490 or 1491. He studied law in Paris, Louvain, and Padua. At Rome he was esteemed by Eugenius IV. After ordination, he attended various councils, held offices and benefices, was sent to Hungary, and was offered the chair of law at the English University of Caen. In 1447 he was appointed bishop of Lisieux, and from that time his life became closely bound up with that of his diocese. He negotiated the surrender of Caen to Charles VII, of whom he became an influential counsellor. He was one of the bishops charged with reviewing the trial of Joan of Arc. Persecuted by Louis XI, like most adherents of the late king, he was forced to flee into exile.
His principal works are a History of the Reigns of Charles VII and Louis XI, and a memoir for the rehabilitation of Joan of Arc.