The letters of remission which at the instance of Henry VIII. were
granted to Michael de St. Aignan in respect of the murder of James du
Mesnil are preserved in the National Archives of France (Register
J. 234, No. 191), and after the usual preamble, recite the culprit’s
petition in these terms:--
“Whereas it appears from the prayer of Michael de St. Aignan, lord of
the said place, (1) that heretofore he for a long time lived and resided
in the town of Alençon in honour and good repute; but, to the detriment
of his prosperity, life, and conduct there were divers evil-minded and
envious persons who by sinister, cunning, and hidden means persecuted
him with all the evils, wiles, and deceits that it is possible to
conceive, albeit the said suppliant had never caused them displeasure,
injury, or detriment; among others, one named James Dumesnil, a young
man, to whom the said suppliant had procured all the pleasure and
advantages that were in his power, and whom he had customarily admitted
to his house, thinking that the said Dumesnil was his loyal friend, and
charging his wife and his servants to treat him when he came as though
he were his brother; by which means St. Aignan hoped to induce the said
Dumesnil to espouse one of his relatives.
1 This was in all probability the village of St. Aignan on
the Sarthe, between Moulins-la-Marche and Bazoches, and
about twenty miles from Alençon. The personage here
mentioned should not be confounded with Emery de
Beauvilliers, whom Francis I. created Count of St. Aignan
(on the Cher), and whose descendants, many of whom were
distinguished generals and diplomatists, became dukes of the
same place.--Ed.
“But Dumesnil ill-requited the aforesaid good services and courtesies,
and rendering evil for good, as is the practice of iniquity, endeavoured
to and did cause an estrangement between the said St. Aignan and
his wife, who had always lived together in good, great, and perfect
affection. And the better to effect his purpose he (Dumesnil) gave the
said wife to understand, among other things, that St. Aignan bore her
no affection; that he daily desired her death; that she was mistaken in
trusting him; and other evil things not fitting to be repeated, which
the wife withstood, enjoining Dumesnil not to use such language again,
as should he do so she would repeat it to her husband; but Dumesnil,
persevering, on divers occasions when St. Aignan had absented himself,
gave the wife of the latter to understand that he (St. Aignan) was dead,
devising proofs thereof and conjectures, and thinking that by this means
he would win her favour and countenance. But she still resisted him,
which seeing, the said Dumesnil gave her to understand that St. Aignan
would often absent himself, and that she would be happier if she had a
husband who remained with her. And plotting to compass the death of
the said St. Aignan, Dumesnil gave her to understand that if she would
consent to the death of her husband he would marry her; and, in fact,
he promised to marry her. And whereas she still refused to consent, the
said Dumesnil found a means to gain a servant woman of the house,
who, St. Aignan being absent and his wife in bed, opened the door to
Dumesnil, who compelled the said wife to let him lie with her. And
thenceforward Dumesnil made divers presents to the servant woman, so
that she should poison the said suppliant; and she consented to his
face; but at Easter confessed the matter to St. Aignan, entreating his
forgiveness, and also saying and declaring it to the neighbours. And
the said Dumesnil, knowing that he would incur blame and reproach if the
matter were brought forward, seized and abducted the said servant woman
in all diligence, and took her away from the town, whereby a scandal was
occasioned.
“Moreover, it would appear that the said Dumesnil had been found several
times by night watching the gardens and the door in view of slaying St.
Aignan, as is notorious in Alençon, by virtue of the admission of the
said Dumesnil himself. Whereupon St. Aignan, seeing his wife thus made
the subject of scandal by Dumesnil, enjoined him to abstain from coming
to his house to see his wife, and to consider the outrage and injury he
had already inflicted upon him; declaring moreover that he could endure
no more. To which Dumesnil refused to listen, declaring that he would
frequent the house in spite of every one; albeit, in doing so, he might
come by his death. Thereupon St. Aignan, being acquainted with the
evil obstinacy of Dumesnil and desirous of avoiding greater misfortune,
departed from the town of Alençon, and went to reside in the town of
Argentan, ten leagues distant, whither he took his wife, thinking that
Dumesnil would abstain from coming. Withal he did not abstain, but came
several times to the said town of Argentan, and frequented his (St.
Aignan’s) wife; whereby the people of Argentan were scandalised. And the
said St. Aignan endeavoured to prevent him from coming, and employed
the nurse of his child to remonstrate with Dumesnil, but the latter
persevered, saying and declaring that he would kill St. Aignan, and
would still go to Argentan, albeit it might cause his death. Insomuch
that the said Dumesnil, on the eighth day of this month, departed from
Alençon between two and three o’clock in the morning, a suspicious hour,
having disguised himself and assumed attire unsuited to his calling,
which is that of the law; wearing a Bearnese cloak,(2) a jacket of white
woollen stuff underneath, all torn into strips, with a feathered cap
upon his head, and having his face covered. In this wise he arrived at
the said town of Argentan, accompanied by two young men, and lodged
in the faubourgs at the sign of Notre Dame, and remained there
clandestinely from noon till about eleven o’clock in the evening, when
he asked the host for the key of the backdoor, so that he might go out
on his private affairs, not wishing to be recognised.
“At the said suspicious hour, with his sword at his side,(3) and dressed
and accoutred in the said garments, he started from his lodging with one
of the said young men.