HOW IVAN THE TERRIBLE DEFENDED THE ORTHODOX FAITH: THE RELIGIOUS DISPUTE OF THE RUSSIAN TSAR WITH THE PAPAL LEGATE
The article presents the dispute on religious faith between Ivan the Terrible and the papal legate who was sent to the Russian Tsar with the important diplomatic mission - to spread Catholicism in Russia and to achieve by any means, up to a military attack, the unity of Orthodox Russia with the Catholic world. The attempt was made to convince the Russian Tsar that this union with Rome would increase his power and role in his relations with the heads of Western states thus helping him in becoming a true Emperor of the Eastern World. But Possevino’s mission in Russia failed.