After his second failure Antonio Pérez lost faith in being able to kill
Escovedo by poison, and with horrible premeditation had entrusted
assassins to do the deed by sword or shot, if the third attempt that he
was planning also miscarried. He entrusted this to his two former
accomplices, the steward Diego Martinez and the page Antonio Enriquez.
Martinez summoned from Aragon two merciless men whom he could trust and
who were skilled in this kind of adventure; one was Juan de Mesa, uncle
of the Gil de Mesa, who, when Antonio Pérez fled to Aragon, figured so
much as his ally; the other a certain Insausti, a typical Italian bravo
of that time, with his quarrelsome air, his formidable sword, and his
matted locks which fell over his ears and head, and could be made to
cover his face like a mask, so that he should not be recognised in his
exploits. For his part Antonio Enriquez recruited at once in Madrid the
scullion from the royal kitchen, Juan Rubio, already an accomplice, and
began to treat with his own half-brother, Miguel Bosque, who was in
Murcia. Enriquez went there to fetch him, and persuaded him at last by
the promise of a hundred golden crowns and the protection of Antonio
Pérez. The two brothers reached Madrid the day on which Escovedo's
innocent slave was hanged in the public square.
When all were in Madrid they hid from each other, each in his hole, like
reptiles that dreaded the sunlight, waiting until the hour for the crime
had struck. Escovedo, then recovering from the third attempt to poison
him, did not yet go out. But very soon Diego Martinez made an
assignation with his gang, at a lonely tile kiln, which was about half a
league from Madrid, outside the gate of Guadalajara. He told them that
the Lord Antonio had gone to Alcalá to spend Holy Week, and had left
orders to make an end of Escovedo before his return, or that of the King
from the Escorial, which were to coincide. Time therefore pressed, and
Diego Martinez hastened to trace out a plan of campaign. He decided that
Insausti should deal the blow, as being the best hand at sword-thrusts
in Aragon, and for the purpose Martinez gave him a very good sword with
a wide blade, grooved to the point. To the rest he distributed daggers
and pistols, if they lacked them, but most of them carried them hidden
in their breeches, according to the practice of ill-doers of the time.
It was also agreed that from that afternoon they should meet in the
square of Santiago as a centre of operations, and from there divide into
distinct groups; one, composed of Insausti, Miguel Bosque and the
scullion Juan Rubio should watch the comings and goings of Escovedo in
the lane of St. Mary, where he lived, and take advantage of the first
opportunity of giving him a thrust; the other three, Juan de Mesa,
Antonio Enriquez and Diego Martinez, were to follow them at a distance
to help if necessary, at any rate to assist their flight.
In that out-of-the-way corner, which even to-day faces the Royal Palace
silent and solitary as an island in the unquiet sea of Madrid, then
lived the nobles, personages of the Court, Grandees and gentlemen who
held appointments in it, and all the life of those days flowed through
its narrow, steep lanes. So it is not extraordinary that nobody noticed
these birds of ill-omen who haunted the lane of St. Mary. At last, on
the 31st of March, that year Easter Monday, the much-sought opportunity
presented itself. At nightfall Escovedo went down the street called
Mayor, towards the gate de la Vega, on his way home. He was alone, as
usual, without page or servant. By his slow, unsteady gait it could be
known that he was still weak from his illness, and as it was cold, he
protected himself from the air by the muffler of his black cloak. Behind
him, at a considerable distance, came the three assassins Insausti,
Miguel Bosque and Juan Rubio, also muffled up in their cloaks,
sauntering along, but not losing a movement of their desired victim.
When Escovedo arrived at the lane of St. Mary, he stopped a moment, as
if to get his breath, and then began to mount the steep slope to his
house. The assassins also pulled up, and after a few hurried words,
separated, Juan Rubio going stealthily to the corner of the lane, then
formed by the great house of the Cuevas, and there stopping to cut off
Escovedo's retreat. Insausti and Miguel Bosque went hastily by what is
to-day the street of the Factor, which formed the other corner of the
Cuevas' house, in order to enter the lane of St. Mary by the other end,
and meet Escovedo face to face. He was impeded not only by his weakness,
but also by the shades of night, which were rapidly gaining possession
of the dark lane, and also by the inequality of the ground, which, as in
all streets of the period, was full of stones and deep holes caused by
the throwing out of water; so the unfortunate secretary walked very
slowly, keeping close to the wall of the church, and gave more than
enough time for the villains to get round and meet him in front of the
house of the Princess de Évoli, which was just at the back of the Cueva
one. Insausti had an unsheathed sword under his cloak and a pistol in
his left hand. Miguel Bosque had a dagger ready and another pistol. They
passed Escovedo, almost brushing against him without attracting his
attention, as he took them for peaceable passers-by. But all at once,
turning round, Insausti rapidly and silently cast himself on Escovedo,
and ran him through the back with a mighty thrust. Escovedo fell forward
without a cry, without an exclamation, only giving a hoarse groan. The
assassin leant over him for a moment to see if a second blow was
necessary, and then at once ran away. Miguel Bosque went up the lane to
get into the Castle Square, Insausti by the Street Mayor, dragging Rubio
with him in his flight, and Diego Martinez, who was a long way off.
Antonio Enriquez ends this declaration by saying: "The death-blow was
given on Easter Monday, the 31st of March. Juan de Mesa and I arrived in
the square of Santiago later than usual; so that the others had left to
lie in wait for the secretary Escovedo to pass. Juan de Mesa and I
wandered round about, and here we heard the rumour that Escovedo had
been killed. Then we went secretly to our houses, and on entering mine I
met Miguel Bosque, wearing a jacket, because in running he had lost his
cloak and pistol. Juan de Mesa met Insausti at his door, also without a
cloak, because he had lost it in his flight, and he took him in to hide
him, and together they threw the sword which killed Escovedo into a well
in the yard; the sword was long and grooved to the point. That same
night Juan Rubio went to Alcalá on a mule which the priest Fernando de
Escobar gave him, to tell Antonio Pérez that all was over, and he asked
if anyone was taken, and hearing that no one had been he was very
pleased."
The assassination of such a well-known personage as Escovedo in the
midst of the streets at Madrid upset all the neighbourhood, and set all
the mayors and "alguaciles" in the city to work. The next day, which was
the 1st of April, they arrested everyone who tried to leave the gates,
and the next day forced all the inn and hotel-keepers to furnish a
detailed list of their inmates. Antonio Pérez ordered the assassins to
remain quiet in their hiding-places, and not to make any noise so long
as the first hot search was being made, and until he could find means of
placing them in safety. He succeeded at last, after a long period of
uneasy waiting, and on the 19th of April they all left Madrid, largely
rewarded. Miguel Bosque received a hundred golden crowns from the hands
of the priest Escobar, and then returned to his native place. Juan de
Mesa went back to Aragon, carrying a gold chain, fifty doubloons, a
beautiful silver cup, and the appointment of agent for the property of
the Princess de Évoli, which she herself gave him. To Insausti, Juan
Rubio, and Antonio Enriquez Antonio Pérez sent by Diego Martinez the
appointment of ensign, with twenty golden crowns of pay, and without
demur they went to their respective posts, Juan Rubio to Milan, Antonio
Enriquez to Naples, and Insausti to Sicily, where he died shortly
afterwards.