Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The Memoirs of Philip De Commines, Lord of Argenton, Vol. 1 of 2: Containing the Histories of Louis XI. And Charles VIII. Kings of France and of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy; To Which Is Added, the Scandalous Chronicle, or Secret History of Louis XI
Philip DE commines has been called the Father Of Modern History. His Memoirs, says Mr. Hallam, almost make an epoch in historical literature. He is the first modern writer who in any degree has displayed sagacity in reasoning on the characters of men and the consequences of their actions, or who has been able to generalise his observations by comparison and re?ection. This ability to discuss motives as well as events renders him far superior to Fr'oissart, who, on the other hand, greatly exceeds him in picturesqueness of style and fertility of invention. Froissart merely described notable occurrences; Commines delineated great men. The one, says Sir James Stephen, had contemplated the strife of kings and kingdoms as a spectator of the Isthmian Games may have gazed at that heart-stirring spectacle. The other had watched the schemes of statesmen and the con?ict of nations, with some approach to that judicial serenity which we ascribe to a member of the Amphictyonic Council. If Froissart may be termed the Livy of France, she had her Tacitus in Commines.
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