← Fame through time1400-1499
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 coverage and readership agree.
- 1
Christopher Columbus21 decades - 2
Amerigo Vespucci22 decades - 3
Richard III of England0 decades - 4
Zheng He8 decades - 5
Henry VII of England7 decades - 6
Henry VI of England0 decades - 7
Skanderbeg7 decades - 8
Richard II of England0 decades - 9
Henry IV of England0 decades - 10
Charles VI of France4 decades - 11
Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperornot measured- - 12
Charles VII of France0 decades - 13
Murad II11 decades - 14
Louis XII of France22 decades - 15
Bayezid II3 decades - 16
Mehmed the Conqueror2 decades - 17
Sejong the Great0 decades - 18
Edward IV of England0 decades - 19
Matthias Corvinus22 decades - 20
Juan Ponce de León20 decades - 21
John Cabot16 decades - 22
Mehmed I0 decades - 23
Prince Henry the Navigator15 decades - 24
James I of Scotland3 decades - 25
Margaret of Anjounot measured- - 26
Elizabeth Woodvillenot measured- - 27
Henry IV of Castile22 decades - 28
Anne Nevillenot measured- - 29
Albert II of Germany0 decades - 30
Alfonso V of Aragon21 decades - 31
Christian I of Denmark0 decades - 32
Vlad II Dracul0 decades - 33
Władysław III of Poland0 decades - 34
Isabella of Aragon, Queen of Portugal0 decades - 35
Isabella of Valoisnot measured- - 36
Isabeau of Bavaria22 decades - 37
Pachacuti9 decades - 38
Ferdinand I of Aragon17 decades - 39
Casimir IV Jagiellon0 decades - 40
John VIII Palaiologos0 decades - 41
Ferdinand I of Naples16 decades - 42
Muhammad XII of Granada0 decades - 43
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John II of Castile0 decades - 44
Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmondnot measured- - 45
John, King of Denmarknot measured- - 46
René of Anjou3 decades - 47
Eric of Pomerania0 decades
- 48
Simonetta Vespucci10 decades - 49
Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of Yorknot measured- - 50
Uzun Hasan2 decades - 51
Cecily Neville, Duchess of Yorknot measured- - 52
Philippa of England0 decades - 53
Elizabeth of Luxembourg1 decades - 54
Mara Branković0 decades - 55
Christopher of Bavaria4 decades
- 56
Alfonso II of Naples3 decades - 57Seongjong of Joseonnot measured-
- 58
Eleanor of Portugal, Holy Roman Empressnot measured- - 59
Francisco de Almeida1 decades - 60
Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales0 decades - 61
Bartholomew Columbus16 decades - 62
Barbara of Cilli0 decades - 63
Margaret of Denmark, Queen of Scotland9 decades - 64
Bahlul Khan Lodi0 decades - 65
Đurađ Branković0 decades - 66
Charlesnot measured- - 67
Clarice Orsini22 decades - 68
Beatrice of Portugal22 decades - 69
David II of Trebizondnot measured- - 70
Alexander Jagiellon0 decades - 71
Khalil Sultan0 decades - 72
Juan de la Cosa21 decades - 73
Diogo Cão0 decades - 74
Frederick IInot measured- - 75
Ernest of Saxony22 decades - 76
Louis II of Naples22 decades - 77
John VII Palaiologos0 decades - 78Hüma Hatun0 decades
- 79
Elisabeth of Habsburg0 decades - 80
Túpac Inca Yupanqui0 decades - 81
Martin Behaim15 decades - 82
Süleyman Çelebi0 decades - 83
René II of Lorraine15 decades - 84
Helena Dragašnot measured- - 85
Askia Muhammad I0 decades - 86
Vicente Yáñez Pinzón14 decades - 87
Tristão da Cunha1 decades - 88
Radu cel Frumos0 decades - 89Hacı I Giraynot measured-
- 90
Lê Thái Tổnot measured- - 91
Sigismund, Archduke of Austrianot measured- - 92
Go-Hanazono0 decades - 93
Go-Komatsu0 decades - 94
Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwicknot measured- - 95
Ahuitzotl8 decades - 96
Zara Yaqob0 decades - 97
Dorothea of Brandenburgnot measured- - 98
Go-Kashiwabara0 decades - 99
Meñli I Giraynot measured- - 100
Afonso I of Kongo0 decades
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.