← 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
Maimonidesnot measured- - 2
Bernard of Clairvaux19 decades - 3
Peter Abelard20 decades - 4
Ismail al-Jazarinot measured- - 5
Bhāskara II0 decades - 6
Basava20 decades - 7
Judah Halevi0 decades - 8
Fakhr al-Din al-Razinot measured- - 9
Héloïse16 decades - 10
Shihab al-Din Suhrawardi0 decades - 11
Peter Waldo12 decades - 12
Joachim of Fiore5 decades - 13
Ibn Tumart2 decades - 14
Gorakhnath6 decades - 15
Abu'l-Faraj ibn al-Jawzinot measured- - 16
Hugh of Saint Victor1 decades - 17
Joannes Zonaras0 decades - 18
Avempace3 decades - 19
John of Salisbury22 decades - 20
Al-Zamakhshari0 decades - 21
Adelard of Bath10 decades - 22
Eustathius of Thessalonica0 decades - 23
Ibn Tufail0 decades - 24
Alain of Lille0 decades - 25
Hemachandra11 decades - 26
David Kimhinot measured- - 27
Nimbarkacharya0 decades - 28
Peter the Venerable19 decades - 29
Ahmed ar-Rifa'inot measured- - 30
Abu Hafs Umar al-Suhrawardinot measured- - 31
Ibn Asakir0 decades - 32
Lu Jiuyuan5 decades - 33Bernard of Chartres0 decades
- 34
Qadi Ayyad0 decades - 35Al-Shahrastani0 decades
- 36
Najmuddin Kubra0 decades - 37
Abu Madyan0 decades - 38
Ǧābir Ibn-Aflāḥnot measured- - 39
Abraham bar Hiyya21 decades - 40
William of Conches9 decades - 41Judah ben Samuel of Regensburg22 decades
- 42
Al-Samawal al-Maghribinot measured- - 43Abraham ben David of Posquièresnot measured-
- 44
Jacques de Vitry14 decades - 45Andreas Capellanus8 decades
- 46Abu'l-Barakāt al-Baghdādīnot measured-
- 47
Burhan al-Din al-Murghinaninot measured- - 48
Ubald8 decades - 49Sharaf al-Dīn al-Ṭūsīnot measured-
- 50
Gilbert of Sempringham1 decades - 51
Ayn al-Quzat Hamadaninot measured- - 52
Abu Hafs Omar al-Nasafinot measured- - 53William of Champeaux15 decades
- 54
Jinulnot measured- - 55
Shaykh Tabarsi0 decades - 56
Herman of Carinthia0 decades - 57Azrielnot measured-
- 58
Thierry of Chartres2 decades - 59Daniel of Morley0 decades
- 60David of Dinant0 decades
- 61
Ibn Zafar0 decades - 62Usman Harooni0 decades
- 63Isaac of Stella0 decades
- 64
Richard FitzNeal0 decades - 65Sayf al-Din al-Amidinot measured-
- 66
Al-Suhayli0 decades - 67
Ibn al-Yasaminnot measured- - 68
Ye Shi2 decades - 69Manuel I of Constantinoplenot measured-
- 70Abu al-Abbas as-Sabtinot measured-
- 71
Al-Isfizarinot measured- - 72
Martin of Leonnot measured- - 73
Gerhoh of Reichersberg0 decades - 74Ibn Maḍāʾnot measured-
- 75
Abu Jafar ibn Harun al-Turjalinot measured- - 76Baha ud-Din Waladnot measured-
- 77
Chen Liang6 decades - 78
Adam of Balsham0 decades - 79Siraj al-Din al-Ushinot measured-
- 80
Joseph ben Judah ibn Aknin14 decades - 81Abu Mansur al-Jawaliqinot measured-
- 82
Al-Kharaqīnot measured- - 83Joseph ibn Tzaddik15 decades
- 84Judah Hadassi0 decades
- 85Simon of Tournai0 decades
- 86
Ibn Tumlus0 decades - 87Burgundio of Pisa0 decades
- 88Hu Hong0 decades
- 89
Raymond of Barbastronot measured- - 90Gregory of Corinth0 decades
- 91Ahmad ibn Munim al-Abdarinot measured-
- 92Alberich of Reims3 decades
- 93Walter of St Victor0 decades
- 94Nikolaos of Otrantonot measured-
- 95Stephen of Pisanot 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.