Hetman manifestos

Hetman manifestos (universaly). Official decrees issued by the government of the Hetman state in the 17th and 18th centuries. The practice was adopted from the Polish kings, who declared their will in circular letters addressed to their subjects (universales letterae). Manifestos were addressed in the hetman's name to the entire population and often contained important directives or ordinances. Special manifestos were directed at specific institutions, estates, military units, settlements, or groups. Some were called instructions, particularly those that dealt with the court system: for example, the manifestos of Pavlo Polubotok (1722), Danylo Apostol (1730), and Kyrylo Rozumovsky (1761–3). At times hetmans issued manifestos granting lands and peasants to Cossack officers and church institutions or confirming land ownership, as well as manifestos granting special protection or exempting certain individuals from the authority of administrative and judicial bodies. Manifestos were always confirmed by the seal of the Zaporozhian Host.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Krypiakevych, Ivan; Butych, Ivan (eds). Universaly Bohdana Khmel'nyts'koho (Lviv 1998)

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 2 (1988).]