General Military Chancellery

General Military Chancellery (Heneralna viiskova kantseliariia). The central administrative body in the Hetman state from 1648 to 1764 through which the hetmans exercised their military and civil authority. The chancellery was directed by the general chancellor and supervised all affairs, maintained the state archives and registers, prepared the hetman's decrees, charters, and land grants, and resolved disputes regarding membership in the Cossack estate. Regimental chancellors (see Regimental system) were trained at the chancellery, and the General Officer Staff held its meetings on its premises, which were located in the same town as the hetman's residence (Chyhyryn, Hadiach, Baturyn, Hlukhiv). In 1720 its financial and judicial powers were abrogated by Peter I, and it was reorganized according to the collegial principle.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 2 (1989).]