1500–1599
The 16th century
Whose working lives fell in the 16th 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 16th century, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.
#PersonIn print, 1800–2019Echoed
- 1CJClément Janequin1485–1558 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians10 decades
- 2PAPierre Attaingnant1494–1552 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians8 decades
- 3
Claude Goudimel1505–1572 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians17 decades - 4
Claude Le Jeune1528–1600 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians10 decades - 5CDClaudin de Sermisy1490–1562 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians4 decades
- 6
Louis Bourgeois1510–1560 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians12 decades - 7
Philippe Verdelotdied 1552 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians0 decades - 8
Balthasar de Beaujoyeulx1535–1587 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians0 decades - 9
Jean Titelouze1563–1633 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians2 decades - 10
Pierre Certon1515–1572 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians5 decades - 11GDGiovanni de Macque1550–1614 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians0 decades
- 12CGClaude Gervaise1510–1558 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians2 decades
- 13PDPierre de Manchicourt1510–1564 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians0 decades
- 14EDEustache Du Caurroy1549–1609 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians1 decades
- 15
Adrian Le Roy1520–1598 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians9 decades - 16
Guillaume Costeley1531–1606 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians4 decades - 17DPDominique Phinot1510–1556 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians0 decades
- 18JOJacquet of Mantua1483–1559 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians1 decades
- 19SSandrin1490–1561 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians0 decades
- 20ADAntoine de Bertrand1540–1581 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians2 decades
- 21JDJacquet de Berchem1505–1565 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians0 decades
- 22
Jacques Mauduit1557–1627 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians8 decades - 23LHLupus Hellinck1493–1541 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians0 decades
- 24JMJacques Moderne1500–1560 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured—
- 25JBJoan Brudieu1520–1591 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured—
- 26
Guillaume Franc1505–1570 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 27PJPhilibert Jambe de Fer1515–1572 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured—
- 28
Paschal de l'Estocart1539–1584 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 29GFGuillaume Faugues1500–1500 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured—
- 30GDGuillaume de Morlaye1510–1558 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured—
- 31SCSeverin Cornet1530–1582 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured—
- 32JDJean de Bonmarché1520–1570 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured—
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.