ABSTRACT
Of all the Marian festivals on the liturgical calendar, the feast of the Annunciation on 25 March ranked as the most important holiday in Loreto. In 1609 the feast of the Annunciation was given added lustre by an unusually precious gift. Oldenbarnevelt spoke for a broad coalition favouring peace. On 11 December Philip III rescinded the Gauna decrees and reinstated the blanket embargo on trading with the Dutch. Oldenbarnevelt's failure to keep his promise and Philip's intransigence caused the collapse of the peace talks in August 1608. In order to uphold the dynasty's reputation, the Dutch would have to submit and recognize - at least nominally - Habsburg supremacy. Compared to the military expenditure in the Low Countries and northern Italy, the subsidies sent to Philip's Austrian cousins may have seemed mere trifles, but they nevertheless contributed to the overall depletion of the monarchy's funds.
