215,950 profiles ranked

← 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. 1Pope Innocent III1160-1216 · Italy · Religious Figures22 decades
  2. 2Adrian IVdied 1159 · United Kingdom · Religious Figures22 decades
  3. 3Thomas Becket1119-1170 · United Kingdom · Religious Figures22 decades
  4. 4Pope Alexander III1100-1181 · Italy · Religious Figures22 decades
  5. 5Pope Honorius III1148-1227 · Italy · Religious Figures19 decades
  6. 6William of Tyre1130-1186 · Religious Figures22 decades
  7. 7Pope Innocent II1100-1143 · Italy · Religious Figures13 decades
  8. 8Hugues de Payens1074-1136 · Italy · Religious Figures0 decades
  9. 9Saint Rosalia1130-1170 · Italy · Religious Figures0 decades
  10. 10Peter Lombard1100-1160 · Italy · Religious Figures22 decades
  11. 11Pope Callixtus II1065-1124 · France · Religious Figures0 decades
  12. 12Pope Celestine III1106-1198 · Italy · Religious Figures2 decades
  13. 13Gerald of Wales1146-1220 · United Kingdom · Religious Figures7 decades
  14. 14Sverre of Norway1151-1202 · Norway · Religious Figures0 decades
  15. 15Saint Malachy1094-1148 · United Kingdom · Religious Figures0 decades
  16. 16Pope Gregory VIII1100-1187 · Italy · Religious Figures0 decades
  17. 17Norbert of Xanten1080-1134 · Netherlands · Religious Figures0 decades
  18. 18Pope Honorius II1100-1130 · Italy · Religious Figures0 decades
  19. 19Pope Lucius III1110-1185 · Italy · Religious Figures3 decades
  20. 20Pope Celestine IIdied 1144 · Italy · Religious Figures0 decades
  21. 21Anacletus II1091-1138 · Religious Figures1 decades
  22. 22Pope Anastasius IVdied 1154 · Italy · Religious Figures0 decades
  23. 23Innocent III1110-1183 · Religious Figures22 decades
  24. 24Arnaud Amalric1160-1225 · France · Religious Figures4 decades
  25. 25Henry1100-1156 · Religious Figuresnot measured-
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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.