Claim profile
1100–1199

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 Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.

CountryAll🇫🇷 France🇯🇵 Japan🇩🇪 Germany🇬🇧 United Kingdom🇳🇴 Norway🇮🇹 Italy🇪🇸 Spain🇸🇪 Sweden🇨🇳 China🇹🇷 Turkey
FieldAllHistorical FiguresWritersPoliticiansReligious FiguresAcademicsModelsActorsArtistsMusiciansDoctors
  1. 1Herrad of LandsbergHerrad of Landsberg1130–1196 · Artists0 decades
  2. 2Zhang ZeduanZhang Zeduan1085–1145 · Artists2 decades
  3. 3Benedetto AntelamiBenedetto Antelami1150–1230 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists16 decades
  4. 4Ma YuanMa Yuan1160–1225 · Artists2 decades
  5. 5Bonanno PisanoBonanno Pisano1150–1180 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists0 decades
  6. 6Nicholas of VerdunNicholas of Verdun1130–1205 · Artists19 decades
  7. 7GislebertusGislebertus1100–1135 · 🇫🇷 France · Artistsnot measured—
  8. 8UnkeiUnkei1151–1224 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artists2 decades
  9. 9Wang XiWang Xi1096–1119 · Artists1 decades
  10. 10WiligelmoWiligelmo1100–1200 · Artists0 decades
  11. 11KaikeiKaikei1150–1250 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artists3 decades
  12. 12Master of TaüllMaster of Taüll1100–1199 · Artists0 decades
  13. 13Fujiwara no TakanobuFujiwara no Takanobu1142–1205 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artists0 decades
  14. 14Master MateoMaster Mateo1140–1217 · Artists11 decades
  15. 15Su HanchenSu Hanchen1101–1161 · Artists0 decades
  16. 16RDRenier de Huy1100–1146 · Artists0 decades
  17. 17MYMi Youren1086–1153 · Artists0 decades
  18. 18WTWang Tingyun1151–1202 · Artists0 decades
  19. 19Zhao BojuZhao Boju1120–1182 · Artists0 decades
  20. 20BiduinoBiduino1150–1200 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists0 decades
  21. 21Master of the Bigallo CrucifixionMaster of the Bigallo Crucifixionborn 1150 · Artists6 decades
  22. 22QSQiao Shiborn 1086 · Artists3 decades
  23. 23ZKZhao Kai1101–1130 · Artists1 decades
  24. 24SGSu Guo1072–1123 · Artists0 decades
  25. 25Master SigrafMaster Sigrafborn 1150 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Artistsnot measured—
  26. 26ADAnselmo da Campione1130–1210 · Artists0 decades
  27. 27MajestatisMajestatisborn 1150 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Artists12 decades
  28. 28ASAlberto Sotio1100–1187 · Artists0 decades

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.