Page:Readings in European History Vol 2.djvu/39

 READINGS IN EUROPEAN HISTORY CHAPTER XXIII EUROPE AT THE OPENING OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY I. The Expedition of Charles VIII into Italy There could be no more charming introduction to TheMS- the history of the sixteenth century than the famous JJJjj"^ memoirs of Philip of Commines. The French, in mod- Commines ern times, have been distinguished for the skill with which they combine their personal reminiscences with a more or less complete account of the history of their own times, in the form of memoirs, which both delight the casual reader and serve the purposes of the serious historian. Of this attractive but too often unreliable kind of history Commines affords a very early and admirable example. Born in Flanders not later than 1447, the writer first attached himself to the court of Charles the Bold and served him as councilor and ambas- sador. In 1472, however, he went over to Charles* arch-enemy, Louis XI of France, of whom he has much to say. 1 Six or seven years after the death of Louis, Commines wrote the first six books of his memoirs, 1 For Commines' estimate of both Charles the Bold and Louis XI, see above, Vol. I, pp. 477 sq. and 481 sqq. I