← 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
Leonardo da Vinci22 decades - 3
Joan of Arc22 decades - 4
Vlad the Impaler3 decades - 5
Isabella I of Castile19 decades - 6
Amerigo Vespucci22 decades - 7
Pope Alexander VI22 decades - 8
Johannes Gutenberg17 decades - 9
Richard III of England0 decades - 10
Hieronymus Bosch9 decades - 11
Henry V of England1 decades - 12
Ferdinand II of Aragon14 decades - 13
Zheng He8 decades - 14
Jan Hus9 decades - 15
Henry VII of England7 decades - 16
Sandro Botticelli22 decades - 17
Lorenzo de' Medici22 decades - 18
Girolamo Savonarola22 decades - 19
Henry VI of England0 decades - 20
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperornot measured- - 21
Skanderbeg7 decades - 22
Donatello22 decades - 23
Pope Julius II22 decades - 24
Richard II of England0 decades - 25
Henry IV of England0 decades - 26
Charles VI of France4 decades - 27
Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperornot measured- - 28
Kabirnot measured- - 29
Constantine XI Palaiologos0 decades - 30
Charles VII of France0 decades - 31
Murad II11 decades - 32
Ivan III of Russia8 decades - 33
Jan van Eyck16 decades - 34
Louis XII of France22 decades - 35
Bayezid II3 decades - 36
Mehmed the Conqueror2 decades - 37
Sejong the Great0 decades - 38
Edward IV of England0 decades - 39
Matthias Corvinus22 decades - 40
Juan Ponce de León20 decades - 41
Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperornot measured- - 42
Charles VIII of France11 decades - 43
John Cabot16 decades - 44
Charles the Bold22 decades - 45
Cosimo de' Medici22 decades - 46
François Villon20 decades - 47
Fra Angelico21 decades - 48
Pope Sixtus IV22 decades - 49
Mehmed I0 decades - 50
Pope Pius II21 decades - 51
Prince Henry the Navigator15 decades - 52
James I of Scotland3 decades - 53
Leon Battista Alberti22 decades - 54
Margaret of Anjounot measured- - 55
Filippo Brunelleschi22 decades - 56
James II of Scotland0 decades - 57
Pope Adrian VI22 decades - 58
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola22 decades - 59
James III of Scotland0 decades - 60
Tomás de Torquemada22 decades - 61
Mary of Burgundy22 decades - 62
Elizabeth Woodvillenot measured- - 63
Philip the Good0 decades - 64
John Hunyadi19 decades - 65
Pope Martin V5 decades - 66
Catherine of Valois0 decades - 67
Piero della Francesca22 decades - 68
Pope Paul II11 decades - 69
Afonso de Albuquerque4 decades - 70
Masaccio22 decades - 71
Rita of Cascia19 decades - 72
Henry IV of Castile22 decades - 73
Nicholas of Cusa13 decades - 74
Lady Margaret Beaufortnot measured- - 75
Luca Pacioli22 decades - 76
Pope Nicholas V10 decades - 77
Anne Nevillenot measured- - 78
Albert II of Germany0 decades - 79
Pope Callixtus III0 decades - 80
Thomas à Kempis20 decades - 81
Antipope John XXIII0 decades - 82
John the Fearlessnot measured- - 83
Ulugh Beg15 decades - 84
Alfonso V of Aragon21 decades - 85
Gilles de Rais17 decades - 86
Andrea Mantegna22 decades - 87
Christian I of Denmark0 decades - 88
Richard of York, 3rd Duke of Yorknot measured- - 89
Giovanni Bellini22 decades - 90
Vlad II Dracul0 decades - 91
Pope Innocent VIII20 decades - 92
Vasily I of Moscow5 decades - 93
Władysław III of Poland0 decades - 94
Marsilio Ficino22 decades - 95
Isabella of Aragon, Queen of Portugal0 decades - 96
Edward V of England0 decades - 97
Isabella of Valoisnot measured- - 98
Isabeau of Bavaria22 decades - 99
Donato Bramante22 decades - 100
Charles, Duke of Orléans22 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.