Claim profile
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.

CountryAll🇫🇷 France🇩🇪 Germany🇮🇹 Italy🇹🇷 Turkey🇬🇧 United Kingdom🇪🇸 Spain🇯🇵 Japan🇸🇪 Sweden🇵🇹 Portugal🇨🇭 Switzerland
FieldAllHistorical FiguresPoliticiansWritersArtistsReligious FiguresAcademicsModelsMusiciansArchitectsScientists
  1. 1Nicholas of CusaNicholas of Cusa1401–1464 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Academics13 decades
  2. 2RegiomontanusRegiomontanus1436–1476 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Academics22 decades
  3. 3Conrad CeltesConrad Celtes1459–1508 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Academics1 decades
  4. 4Johannes WidmannJohannes Widmann1462–1505 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Academics2 decades
  5. 5Ulrich ZasiusUlrich Zasius1461–1535 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Academics0 decades
  6. 6Balthasar, Duke of MecklenburgBalthasar, Duke of Mecklenburg1451–1507 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Academicsnot measured—
  7. 7Johannes NiderJohannes Nider1380–1438 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Academics0 decades
  8. 8Jakob KöbelJakob Köbel1462–1533 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Academics4 decades
  9. 9JTJodocus Trutfetter1460–1519 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Academics0 decades
  10. 10Peter LuderPeter Luder1415–1472 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Academics0 decades
  11. 11PSPaul Scriptoris1462–1505 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Academics0 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.