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. 1Giovanni Pico della MirandolaGiovanni Pico della Mirandola1463–1494 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Academics22 decades
  2. 2Rita of CasciaRita of Cascia1381–1457 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Academics19 decades
  3. 3Marsilio FicinoMarsilio Ficino1433–1499 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Academics22 decades
  4. 4Luca PacioliLuca Pacioli1440–1517 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Academics22 decades
  5. 5Agnolo PolizianoAgnolo Poliziano1454–1494 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Academics22 decades
  6. 6Bernardino of SienaBernardino of Siena1380–1444 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Academics22 decades
  7. 7Poggio BraccioliniPoggio Bracciolini1380–1459 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Academics21 decades
  8. 8Cristoforo LandinoCristoforo Landino1424–1498 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Academics22 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.