Claim profile
1000–1099

The 11th century

Whose working lives fell in the 11th century. Books are measured from 1800 and readers from 2015, so for this period we can say who lived then, not who was talked about then.

Lived then

The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 11th century, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.

CountryAll🇫🇷 France🇩🇪 Germany🇯🇵 Japan🇳🇴 Norway🇸🇪 Sweden🇮🇹 Italy🇬🇧 United Kingdom🇨🇳 China🇪🇸 Spain🇮🇳 India
FieldAllHistorical FiguresWritersPoliticiansReligious FiguresModelsAcademicsActorsArtistsScientistsDoctors
  1. 1Su ShiSu Shi1037–1101 · 🇨🇳 China · Writers7 decades
  2. 2Shen KuoShen Kuo1031–1095 · 🇨🇳 China · Scientists7 decades
  3. 3Mahmud al-KashgariMahmud al-Kashgari1029–1101 · 🇨🇳 China · Academics0 decades
  4. 4Bao ZhengBao Zheng999–1062 · 🇨🇳 China · Politicians5 decades
  5. 5Mi FuMi Fu1051–1107 · 🇨🇳 China · Artistsnot measured—
  6. 6Wang AnshiWang Anshi1021–1086 · 🇨🇳 China · Politicians10 decades
  7. 7Emperor Shenzong of SongEmperor Shenzong of Song1048–1085 · 🇨🇳 China · Historical Figuresnot measured—
  8. 8Emperor Renzong of SongEmperor Renzong of Song1010–1063 · 🇨🇳 China · Historical Figuresnot measured—
  9. 9Sima GuangSima Guang1019–1086 · 🇨🇳 China · Politicians2 decades
  10. 10Guo XiGuo Xi1020–1090 · 🇨🇳 China · Artists2 decades
  11. 11Ouyang XiuOuyang Xiu1007–1072 · 🇨🇳 China · Writers8 decades
  12. 12Emperor Zhenzong of SongEmperor Zhenzong of Song968–1022 · 🇨🇳 China · Modelsnot measured—
  13. 13Emperor Yingzong of SongEmperor Yingzong of Song1032–1067 · 🇨🇳 China · Historical Figuresnot measured—

How this is measured

  • Placing people in time. Each person belongs to the century in which they were most active — around age 35, and never after their death.
  • Who ranks highest. Within a century, people are ranked where two independent signals agree: how many of the world’s Wikipedia language editions cover them, and how many people actually read about them. Article counts alone can be lifted by a person’s own circle; readers cannot.
  • Fame in print. The curves count how often a name appears in Google Books from 1800 to 2019, as a share of all the words printed each year, in the person’s own language wherever that corpus exists. Those decades are over, so each measurement is made once and kept.
  • What is left out. A lifetime is measured only from 1820, when there is enough print to judge; the five years after a death are skipped as obituaries; and a name shared with someone equally notable is credited to neither.