On 5 March 1576, Don Luís de Requesens died in desperate circumstances. His governorship had coincided with the first major cycle of mutinies that were to hit the royal army during the Revolt, and the bankruptcy Philip had declared in September 1575 suggested there would be many more to come. A month prior to his death, Requesens had estimated that there was not even enough money to buy an ounce of gunpowder, and in an act of desperation he had had to give the army's paymaster all his silverware. So certain was Requesens that the Habsburg regime would be defeated that he even told Philip he would be happy to die soon so that the task of informing the king that the Low Countries were lost would befall someone else. The provinces were, in his estimation, simply being given away for free because the necessary measures to protect them had not been taken in time. Shortly afterwards, Requesens advised Philip that the situation was so hopeless that he had better agree to anything that could secure peace, provided only the Catholic faith and royal authority could be assured.

Since the bankruptcy of September 1575, the regime's war effort had been living on borrowed time. The bankruptcy, and the consequent lengthy negotiations with the Crown's Genoese bankers over new terms, did not just mean that Philip was deprived of credit until the negotiations concluded in 1577. It also meant that the actual transfer of what money he still had became problematic, as his bills of exchange could no longer be accepted. Nor could funds be easily raised locally, as the provinces continued to refuse a return to traditional taxation unless their grievances, such as prompt payment of the troops in order to prevent further harm to civilians, were redressed. With no money forthcoming, the troops could not be paid and the ongoing mutinies could not be put down. The situation was so critical that fears of a general insurrection arose, as peasants were selling their livestock to buy arms for their own defence.

Requesens’ sudden death made the Habsburg position still more difficult. There was no successor waiting in the wings this time, and so the regime was left without a specially designated and trusted representative at a time when local political institutions were becoming more and more active.