Golden Charter

Golden Charter. A fictitious proclamation, which according to popular legend was issued by Catherine II, calling upon the Orthodox population of Right-Bank Ukraine to take up arms against the Poles and Jews and to help the Russian forces to expel the Polish authorities. It was spread orally and in handwritten copies, particularly during the Koliivshchyna rebellion of 1768. It was propagated by Melkhysedek Znachko-Yavorsky, the hegumen of the Motronynskyi Trinity Monastery near Chyhyryn, and was used by Maksym Zalizniak and other rebel leaders.