← 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
Kabirnot measured- - 2
François Villon20 decades - 3
Catherine of Valois0 decades - 4
Thomas à Kempis20 decades - 5
Charles, Duke of Orléans22 decades - 6Thomas Malory18 decades
- 7
Edward, King of Portugalnot measured- - 8
Stefan Lazarević0 decades - 9
Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani0 decades - 10
Jaminot measured- - 11
Nezahualcóyotl0 decades - 12Galal al-Din el-Suyutinot measured-
- 13
Muhammad Shaybani0 decades - 14
Ali-Shir Nava'i0 decades - 15
Sankardev0 decades - 16
Lorenzo Valla14 decades - 17
Imadaddin Nasiminot measured- - 18
Leonardo Bruni22 decades - 19
Matteo Maria Boiardo22 decades - 20
Mahmud Pasha3 decades - 21
Johannes Trithemius0 decades - 22
Ikkyū Sōjun0 decades - 23
Axayacatl14 decades - 24
Lucrezia Tornabuoni22 decades - 25
Oswald von Wolkenstein21 decades - 26Margery Kempe8 decades
- 27
Sebastian Brant22 decades - 28
Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta22 decades - 29
Marko Marulić10 decades - 30
Philippe de Commines18 decades - 31
Jacopo Sannazaro22 decades - 32
Jean Le Maingre0 decades - 33
Isidore of Kyivnot measured- - 34
Hartmann Schedel1 decades - 35
Laonikos Chalkokondyles0 decades - 36
Ippolita Maria Sforza8 decades - 37
Luigi Pulci22 decades - 38
Yu Qian3 decades - 39
Peter, Duke of Coimbranot measured- - 40
Peter Martyr d'Anghiera22 decades - 41
Yusuf Adil Shah0 decades - 42George Sphrantzes0 decades
- 43
Flavio Biondo22 decades - 44
Lê Thánh Tông0 decades - 45Hersekzade Ahmed Pasha0 decades
- 46
Salladin Jalal al-Din Sultan ibn Tokhtamyshnot measured- - 47
Kumbha of Mewar0 decades - 48
Antoninus of Florence11 decades - 49Mustafa Çelebi0 decades
- 50
Deva Raya II0 decades - 51
Nguyen Trainot measured- - 52
Nicolas Rolin21 decades - 53
Maria of Cleves0 decades - 54
John Argyropoulos0 decades - 55
Lorenzo the Elder0 decades - 56
John Lydgate22 decades - 57
William Dunbar22 decades - 58Konstantin Mihailović0 decades
- 59
Gomes Eanes de Zurara0 decades - 60
Johann Schiltberger0 decades - 61
Akşemseddin0 decades - 62Marin Barleti0 decades
- 63
Dimitrios Chalkokondylesnot measured- - 64
Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo0 decades - 65
Jorge Manrique5 decades - 66
Petr Chelčický0 decades - 67Michael Critobulus0 decades
- 68
Chandidas7 decades - 69Abd al-Razzaq Samarqandi0 decades
- 70
Eleanor of Scotland0 decades - 71
Mahmud Gawan2 decades - 72
Bartolomeo Platina0 decades - 73
Joanot Martorell0 decades - 74
Drukpa Kunlenot measured- - 75
Janus Pannonius1 decades - 76
Laura Cereta4 decades - 77
Niccolò de' Niccoli22 decades - 78
Isotta Nogarola0 decades - 79
Pierfrancesco the Eldernot measured- - 80
Guarino da Verona22 decades - 81
Konrad Kyeser2 decades - 82
Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester20 decades - 83
Zhu Yunmingnot measured- - 84
Idris Bitlisi0 decades - 85
Blind Harry17 decades - 86
Hafiz-i Abru0 decades - 87
John Fortescue22 decades - 88Doukasnot measured-
- 89
Isabella of Scotland, Duchess of Brittanynot measured- - 90
Niccolò Albergati21 decades - 91
Ausiàs March0 decades - 92
Vyasatirtha0 decades - 93
Nezahualpilli21 decades - 94
Zakariyya al-Ansari0 decades - 95
Joseph Volotsky19 decades - 96
Muhammad al-Jazuli0 decades - 97
Johann Geiler von Kaisersberg0 decades - 98
Antonio Beccadelli22 decades - 99
Thomas Hoccleve2 decades - 100'A'isha al-Ba'uniyyanot measured-
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.