The article examines tsar Ivan the Terrible’s perception of the events of St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre in his diplomatic correspondence. Dynastic ties, trade and diplomatic contacts, along with the common space in which ideas circulated, determined the mutual interest of Russia and France in each other. The comparative study of Russian-French strategies of perception of different political cultures shows that images and representations of power played a significant role in them. The study reveals how and for what possible purposes the Russian tsar assessed the Paris massacre and resorted to the desacralisation of image of French King Henry III. Ivan the Terrible formulated his idea of an ideal Christian ruler and therefore himself in an international context.