1508 CE

The oldest annual foot race in Europe, the "Red Hose Race", is run for the first time, taking place in Scotland at Carnwath, Lanarkshire. Italian renaissance artist Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni of Florence signs a contract with the Vatican to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling, in return for a promised fee of 3,000 gold ducats (equivalent in 2023 to more than U.S. $600,000). Michelangelo begins painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Holy See of Rome, on a commission by Pope Julius II (signed May 10).

In the 1500s, the 16th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

February 28 – Louis V becomes the new prince elector of the Palatinate upon the death of his father, Philip.source
October 8 – An inconclusive peace treaty is signed to end the third of the Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars.source
October 24 – King Louis XII convenes court at the Parlement de Normandie building in Rouen.source
Afonso de Albuquerque began his term as Governor of Portuguese India.Portugal source
Duarte de Menezes began his term as Governor of Tangier.Portugal source

Conflict & Security

January 24 – Maximilian, King of the Romans, requests permission to march to Rome through Venetian territory, but is denied and begins his Italienzug.source
February 2 – During the Glinski rebellion, Lithuanian noble Mykolas Glinskis attacks Grodno (now in Belarus) and decapitates Jan Zabrzeziński, the top ally of Grand Duke Alexander.source
February 20 – Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, attacks the Republic of Venice and sack Ampezzo the next day.source
March 2 – The Republic of Venice defeats Maximilian I in the Battle of Cadore.source
June 6 – Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I signs a humiliating armistice with the Republic of Venice, which for the moment stops any of his further plans for Italy.source
July 23 – Upon the death of his father, King Oxlahuh-Tz'i, Hun-Iqʼ becomes one of the two kings of Guatemala's Kaqchikel Maya civilization. Hun-Iqʼ reigns jointly with King Kablahuh-Tihax until the latter's death on February 4.source
July 31 – The Emperor of Ethiopia, Na'od, dies in battle. His son Lebna Dengel takes on the regnal name of Dawit II, and becomes the new emperor starting on August 11.source
December 29 – Battle of Dabul: Portuguese forces, under the command of Francisco de Almeida, attack Khambhat.source
The Christian-Islamic power struggle in Europe and the Middle East spills over into the Indian Ocean as Battle of Chaul during the Portuguese-Mamluk WarIndia source

Exploration & Expansion

March 22 – Ferdinand II of Aragon appoints Florentine merchant Amerigo Vespucci to the post of Chief Navigator of Spain.source
August 12 – The Spanish settlement of Puerto Rico begins when Juan Ponce de León lands on the island. Upon his arrival, Ponce is welcomed by Agüeybaná I, the island's leader a Cacique of the Taíno people. The Spanish explorer soon settles and founds the city of Caparra, near what is now the town of Guaynabo.source

Religion & Belief

February 4 – Maximilian, King of the Romans, proclaims himself Holy Roman Emperor at the Italian city of Trento, after having been blocked by Venice from traveling to Rome to be crowned by Pope Julius II.source
May 8 – Italian renaissance artist Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni of Florence signs a contract with the Vatican to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling, in return for a promised fee of 3,000 gold ducats (equivalent in 2023 to more than U.S. $600,000).source
December 10 – The League of Cambrai is formed as an alliance against the Republic of Venice, between Pope Julius II, Louis XII of France, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and Ferdinand II of Aragon.source
December – Michelangelo begins painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Holy See of Rome, on a commission by Pope Julius II (signed May 10).source
Dromahair Friary founded by Eóghan O'Rourke, Lord of West Bréifne and Margaret O'Brian of ThomondIreland source
Christopher Fisher appointed Bishop of ElphinIreland source

Science & Discovery

March 22 – Working from the house of Piero di Braccio Martelli at Florence, Leonardo da Vinci begins writing his "collection without order" of his scientific discoveries.source
November 29 – Astronomer Mikołaj Kopernik of Poland is granted benefits by Pope Julius II in order to perform his work.source

Culture & Society

March 5 – La Cassaria by Ludovico Ariosto, the first Italian language comedy, is premiered at Ferrara.source
March 13 – The oldest annual foot race in Europe, the "Red Hose Race", is run for the first time, taking place in Scotland at Carnwath, Lanarkshire.source
March 18 – Wilhelm IV becomes the new Duke of Bavaria upon the death of his father, Albrecht IV.source
April 23 – Prince Mihnea cel Rău, son of Vlad the Impaler, becomes the Voivode of Wallachia, with a palace at Târgoviște (now in Romania), upon the death of his cousin Radu IV the Great.source
June 4 – The coronation of Prince Lajos as the designated successor to his father, King Vladislaus II of Hungary, takes place in Székesfehérvár.source
July 27 – The process of removing the former layers of paint on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is completed, and Michelangelo begins the next phase of marking the surface for painting.source
November 1 – At the age of 16, Prince Wolfgang of the House of Ascania becomes the new ruler of the German principality of Anhalt-Köthen, succeeding his father Waldemar VI. In 1521, he will meet Martin Luther and, in 1525, will introduce the Reformation to his principality, making Anhalt-Köthen only the second nation (after the Electorate of Saxony) to officially adopt Protestantism.source
William Preston, 2nd Viscount Gormanston married Eleanor, daughter of Thomas Dowdall, Master of the RollsIreland source

Births

March 6 – Mirza Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad, emperor of the Mughal Empire (died 1556)source
7 March – Humayun (Nasir ud-din Muhammad Humayun), later Mughal emperor (died 1556)India source
April 3 – Jean Daurat, French writer and scholar (died 1588)source
April 5 – Ercole II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, Italian noble (died 1559)source
May 8 – Charles Wriothesley, English Officer of Arms (died 1562)source
June 8 or June 9 – Primož Trubar, Slovenian Protestant reformer who lays the foundations for the Slovenian written language (died 1586)source
June 13 – Alessandro Piccolomini, Italian humanist and philosopher from Siena (died 1579)source
June 29 – Balthasar of Hanau-Münzenberg, German nobleman (died 1534)source
September 19 – Maria Paleologa, Italian noblewoman (died 1530)source
September 23 – Simon Sulzer, Swiss theologian (died 1585)source
November 23 – Francis, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, youngest son of Henry the Middle (died 1549)source
November 30 – Andrea Palladio, Italian architect (died 1580)source
December 8 – Gemma Frisius, Dutch mathematician and cartographer (died 1555)source
December 24 – Pietro Carnesecchi, Italian humanist (died 1567)source
Jane Seymour, third queen of Henry VIII (died 1537)source
Gabriel de Luetz, Baron and Lord of Aramon and Vallabrègues, French Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire (died 1553)France source
Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly, Chief mistress of Francis I of France (died 1580)France source
Jean de Monluc, French clergyman and diplomat (died 1579)France source

Deaths

February 4 – Conrad Celtes, German humanist (born 1459)source
February 16 – Giovanni II Bentivoglio, tyrant of Bologna (born 1443)source
February 27 – James, Duke of Rothesay, heir to the throne of Scotland (born 1507)source
February – Robert Lauder of the Bass, governor of Berwick-on-Tweed (born c. 1440)source
March 18 – Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria (born 1447)source
March – Lourenço de Almeida, Portuguese explorersource
May 21 – Giles Daubeney, 1st Baron Daubeney (born 1451)source
May 27 – Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan (born 1452)source
June 15 – Bernard Stewart, 4th Lord of Aubigny (born c. 1452)source
June 15 – Bernard Stewart, 3rd Lord of Aubigny, French General, commander of the Garde Écossaise, and diplomat (c. 1452)France source
July 28 or July 29 – Robert Blackadder, Bishop of Glasgowsource
August 3 – Raphael de Mercatellis, abbot and bibliophile (born 1437)source
September 11 – England is left without a Roman Catholic Cardinal protector when Cardinal Galeotto Franciotti della Rovere dies suddenly. England's King Henry VII dies seven months later before the monarchy and the Pope can agree on a new cardinal protector. The King's successor, Henry VIII, later abolishes the office entirely after Lorenzo Campeggio dies in the course of the English Reformation and the creation of the Church of England.source
18 September - Jorge da Costa, Cardinal (born 1406)Portugal source
September 23 – Beatrice of Naples, queen consort of Hungary (born 1457)source
December 10 – René II, Duke of Lorraine (born 1451)source
Mayimama Marakkar, Indian ambassador of the Zamorin ruler of Calicut dies at the Battle of ChaulIndia source
James Butler, 9th Baron DunboyneIreland source