From 1580 to 1700, low-ranking Spanish imperial officials ceaselessly moved across the Spanish empire, and in the process forged a single coherent political unit out of multiple heterogeneous territories, creating the earliest global empire. Global Servants of the Spanish King follows officials as they itinerated between the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Africa, revealing how their myriad experiences of service to the king across a variety of locales impacted the governance of the empire, and was an essential mechanism of imperial stability and integration. Departing from traditional studies which focus on high-ranking officials and are bounded by the nation-state, Adolfo Polo y La Borda centers on officials with local political and administrative duties such as governors and magistrates, who interacted daily with the crown's subjects across the whole empire, and in the process uncovers a version of cosmopolitanism concealed in conventional narratives.

‘Adolfo Polo y La Borda's book is essential for understanding the complex machinery of the Hispanic monarchy in the 16th and 17th centuries. Nothing would have functioned without the intervention of the hundreds of agents studied in this magnificent book.’

Antonio Feros - co-editor of The Iberian World: 1450–1820

‘Adolfo Polo y La Borda traces the lives and networks of the officials who served the Spanish Crown around the early modern world. His ambitious study reveals how their mobility and experience provided a sense of unity to Spain’s global empire.’

Giuseppe Marcocci - University of Oxford