← Fame through time1100-1199
The 12th century
Whose working lives fell in the 12th 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 12th century, ranked where coverage and readership agree.
- 1
Richard I of England0 decades - 2
Henry I of England6 decades - 3
Adrian IV22 decades - 4
Thomas Becket22 decades - 5
Empress Matilda14 decades - 6
Geoffrey of Monmouth22 decades - 7
Henry the Young King0 decades - 8
David I of Scotland0 decades - 9
William the Lion22 decades - 10
Matilda of Scotland2 decades - 11
Gerald of Wales7 decades - 12
William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembrokenot measured- - 13
William of Malmesbury22 decades - 14
Saint Malachy0 decades - 15
Geoffrey IInot measured- - 16Sybilla of Normandynot measured-
- 17Agatha, wife of Edward the Exilenot measured-
- 18
Gwenllian ferch Gruffyddnot measured- - 19
Margaret of Huntingdon, Duchess of Brittanynot measured- - 20Nest ferch Rhysnot measured-
- 21Gruffydd ap Rhys0 decades
- 22Reginald de Dunstanville, 1st Earl of Cornwallnot measured-
- 23
William de Tracy5 decades - 24Caradoc of Llancarfan0 decades
- 25
Rhys Gryg0 decades - 26
Hugh de Kevelioc, 5th Earl of Chesternot measured- - 27Robert Pullen0 decades
- 28
Waltheof of Melrose0 decades - 29Johannes Cotto0 decades
- 30Hugh of Rhuddlan0 decades
- 31Gille Míchéil, Earl of Fifenot measured-
How to read these rankings
- Attention, not reputation. A place on these lists reflects the attention a person still draws in the public record. It is not a judgement on the life.
- Fame in print. The curves show how often a name appeared in the books of each decade from 1800 to 2019, drawn from the Google Books Ngram corpus.
- Gaps are left as gaps. Where the record is too thin to be fair, we would rather show nothing than guess.