1400–1499
The 15th century
Whose working lives fell in the 15th 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 15th century, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.
#PersonIn print, 1800–2019Echoed
- 1
Josquin des Prez1455–1521 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians16 decades - 2
Johannes Ciconia1370–1412 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians3 decades - 3
Antoine Brumel1460–1512 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians0 decades - 4JMJean Mouton1459–1522 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians20 decades
- 5
Clémence Isaure1450–1513 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians22 decades - 6JRJohannes Regis1425–1496 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians0 decades
- 7
Jacobus Barbireau1455–1491 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians0 decades - 8NGNicolas Grenon1375–1456 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians1 decades
- 9ADArnold de Lantins1420–1432 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians0 decades
- 10
F. Andrieuborn 1400 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians0 decades - 11JGJohannes Ghiselin1455–1511 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured—
- 12TTrebor1400–1409 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured—
- 13
Gilles Joye1424–1483 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians0 decades - 14FCFirminus Caronborn 1430 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured—
- 15JTJohannes Tapissier1370–1410 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured—
- 16JVJacobus Vide1405–1433 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians0 decades
- 17JPJohannes Prioris1460–1514 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians0 decades
- 18GLGuillaume Legrant1405–1449 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians0 decades
- 19JDJohannes de Stokem1445–1487 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured—
- 20RLReginaldus Libert1401–1401 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured—
- 21EDEgidius de Francia1400–1400 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured—
- 22JLJohannes Legrant1420–1440 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured—
- 23CDColinet de Lannoy1401–1497 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured—
- 24PBPhilippe Basiron1450–1491 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured—
- 25ABAdrien Basin1457–1498 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot 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.