Prince

Prince

Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...

 Vasily Danilovich Kholmsky (1460s – 1524) was a Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n boyar

Boyar

A boyar, or bolyar , was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rus'ian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century....

 and Muscovite voyevoda, son-in-law of Grand Prince

Grand Prince

The title grand prince or great prince ranked in honour below emperor and tsar and above a sovereign prince .Grand duke is the usual and established, though not literal, translation of these terms in English and Romance languages, which do not normally use separate words for a "prince" who reigns...

 Ivan III

Ivan III of Russia

Ivan III Vasilyevich , also known as Ivan the Great, was a Grand Prince of Moscow and "Grand Prince of all Rus"...

 and son of Prince Daniil Kholmsky

Daniil Kholmsky

Daniel of Kholm was a Russian knyaz, boyar and voyevoda, one of the most prominent military leaders of Ivan the Great...

.

Vasily Kholmsky was a Muscovite nobleman. During the Novgorod campaigns of 1492 and 1495, he was one of the commanders of the so-called Big Regiment (Большой полк) and was noted by Ivan III for his bravery in combat. Ivan would soon admit him to his circle of friends and royal court. In 1500, the grand prince arranged a marriage between Vasily Kholmsky (who was a descendant of appanage princes of Tver

Tver

Tver is a city and the administrative center of Tver Oblast, Russia. Population: 403,726 ; 408,903 ;...

) and his second daughter Feodosiya Ivanovna (died February 19, 1501) and bestowed the title of a boyar upon Vasily. In 1502, Vasily Kholmsky and Dmitry Ivanovich (son of Ivan III) successfully fought side by side against the Lithuanians

Lithuanians

Lithuanians are the Baltic ethnic group native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,765,600 people. Another million or more make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Russia, United Kingdom and Ireland. Their native language...

 in the Smolensk

Smolensk

Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River. Situated west-southwest of Moscow, this walled city was destroyed several times throughout its long history since it was on the invasion routes of both Napoleon and Hitler. Today, Smolensk...

 region.

In 1505-1506, Kholmsky was in charge of the Big Regiment and was ordered to protect Murom

Murom

Murom is a historic city in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, which sprawls along the left bank of Oka River. Population: -History:In the 9th century CE, the city marked the easternmost settlement of the Eastern Slavs in the land of the Finno-Ugric people called Muromians. The Russian Primary Chronicle...

 and then Nizhny Novgorod

Nizhny Novgorod

Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...

. In 1507, he suffered a bitter defeat from the Tatars

Tatars

Tatars are a Turkic speaking ethnic group , numbering roughly 7 million.The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of around 5.5 million, about 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan.Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,...

 near Kazan

Kazan

Kazan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,143,546 , it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. In April 2009, the Russian Patent Office granted Kazan the...

, only to be sent there once again with a large army to suppress the citizens of that city. In September of that same year, Kholmsky defeated the Lithuanian army near Mstislavl, Polotsk, and a few other localities. In 1509, the Luthuanians invaded Muscovy once again and defeated the army sent from Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

. Upon hearing this news, Kholmsky’s forces (quartered in Mozhaisk at that time) moved towards Vyazma

Vyazma

Vyazma is a town and the administrative center of Vyazemsky District of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Vyazma River, about halfway between Smolensk and Mozhaysk. Throughout its turbulent history, the city defended western approaches to the city of Moscow...

 to offer assistance and defeated the Lithuanians. Then, Kholmsky set out for Dorogobuzh

Dorogobuzh

Dorogobuzh is a historic town and the administrative center of Dorogobuzhsky District of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, straddling the Dnieper River to the east of Smolensk and west of Vyazma. Population:...

, which had been occupied by a Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 voevode Stanislaw Kiszka. The Russian prince defeated Kiszka’s army, forcing him to flee to Smolensk.

Pursuing the Polish voevode, Vasily Kholmsky captured Dorogobuzh and Starodub

Starodub

Starodub is a town and the administrative center of Starodubsky District of Bryansk Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Babinets River , southwest of Bryansk. Population: 16,000 .-History:...

 and then headed towards Bryansk

Bryansk

Bryansk is a city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, located southwest of Moscow. Population: -History:The first written mention of Bryansk was in 1146, in the Hypatian Codex, as Debryansk...

. Suddenly, he was summoned to Moscow by Vasili III and exiled to Beloozero. Vasily Kholmsky died in a dungeon

Dungeon

A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably belongs more to the Renaissance period...

15 years later.