Abstract The present article focuses on the little-known case of Sultan Saïd Berkat’s exiled court in Manila and the critical, albeit largely neglected, place of exilic diplomacy in early modern global and imperial politics. It is argued that displaced courts developed impactful diplomatic strategies in their attempt to escape the power of early modern global empires, making use of local and urban dynamics to maintain their cohesion. At the same time, this study highlights the ways exiled courts were ultimately constrained and undermined by the imperial formations that kept them captive, especially through the control of scribal practices.
