COMMYNES, PHILIPPE de. - French historian and statesman, born at Hazebrouck (Flanders) around 1447, died at Argenton on 18 Oct. 1511.
He held various offices, first at the court of Charles the Bold, then at that of Louis XI. After a period of misfortune, he returned to political activity under Charles VIII, whom he followed to Italy, and finally under Louis XII. He spent his last years in his own castle at Argenton, where he completed his *Mémoires*, in 7 books, the first 6 of which recount the events in France during the reign of Louis XI, the 7th the expedition of Charles VIII into Italy.
Noteworthy in Commynes is his effort to transcend mere chronicle in history through a deeper vision of the whole and the ability to discern, beyond the continuous concatenation of events, the possibility of wise human intervention within them, within the limits of Providence, though without falling into a notable psychologism in his historiographical composition. Commynes is masterly in his examination of the political-diplomatic factor in the history of peoples.