Claim profile
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.

CountryAll🇪🇸 Spain🇫🇷 France🇯🇵 Japan🇩🇪 Germany🇮🇹 Italy🇹🇷 Turkey🇬🇧 United Kingdom🇸🇪 Sweden🇨🇭 Switzerland🇮🇳 India
FieldAllHistorical FiguresWritersPoliticiansArtistsAcademicsReligious FiguresMusiciansScientistsModelsActors
  1. 1Balthasar HubmaierBalthasar Hubmaier1485–1528 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors16 decades
  2. 2Andreas OsianderAndreas Osiander1498–1552 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors20 decades
  3. 3Anton PraetoriusAnton Praetorius1560–1613 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors0 decades
  4. 4Melchior HoffmanMelchior Hoffman1490–1543 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors19 decades
  5. 5Johann von StaupitzJohann von Staupitz1465–1524 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors0 decades
  6. 6Zacharias UrsinusZacharias Ursinus1534–1583 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors10 decades
  7. 7George SpalatinGeorge Spalatin1484–1545 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors0 decades
  8. 8Wolfgang CapitoWolfgang Capito1478–1541 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors0 decades
  9. 9Nicolaus von AmsdorfNicolaus von Amsdorf1483–1565 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors0 decades
  10. 10Wenzel JamnitzerWenzel Jamnitzer1508–1585 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors13 decades
  11. 11BRBernhard Rothmann1495–1535 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors0 decades
  12. 12Johannes BuxtorfJohannes Buxtorf1564–1629 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors0 decades
  13. 13Johannes MathesiusJohannes Mathesius1504–1565 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors13 decades
  14. 14HDHans Denck1495–1527 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors13 decades
  15. 15Matthäus ZellMatthäus Zell1477–1548 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors4 decades
  16. 16EAErasmus Alberus1500–1553 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors20 decades
  17. 17George CassanderGeorge Cassander1513–1566 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors0 decades
  18. 18Paul FagiusPaul Fagius1504–1549 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors9 decades
  19. 19Urbanus RhegiusUrbanus Rhegius1489–1541 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors0 decades
  20. 20Hans GlaserHans Glaser1500–1573 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  21. 21Julius von PflugJulius von Pflug1499–1564 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors0 decades
  22. 22Simon GrynaeusSimon Grynaeus1493–1541 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors18 decades
  23. 23JCJohann Crotus1480–1545 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors0 decades
  24. 24Petrus MosellanusPetrus Mosellanus1493–1524 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors0 decades
  25. 25Berchtold HallerBerchtold Haller1492–1536 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors20 decades
  26. 26MolanusMolanus1533–1585 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  27. 27Erhard SchnepfErhard Schnepf1495–1558 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors18 decades
  28. 28GZGabriel Zwilling1487–1558 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors5 decades
  29. 29Justus MeniusJustus Menius1499–1558 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors20 decades
  30. 30Amandus Polanus von PolansdorfAmandus Polanus von Polansdorf1561–1610 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  31. 31Caspar AquilaCaspar Aquila1488–1560 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors2 decades
  32. 32Hendrik van ZutphenHendrik van Zutphen1488–1524 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  33. 33Martin BehmMartin Behm1557–1622 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  34. 34Hans SpringinkleeHans Springinklee1495–1540 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors8 decades
  35. 35Andreas HyperiusAndreas Hyperius1511–1564 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors6 decades
  36. 36BABartholomaeus Arnoldi1465–1532 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  37. 37Nikolaus GerbelNikolaus Gerbel1485–1560 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors6 decades
  38. 38JZJohannes Zwick1496–1542 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  39. 39Johann HabermannJohann Habermann1516–1590 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  40. 40Stephan AgricolaStephan Agricola1491–1547 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  41. 41Joachim MörlinJoachim Mörlin1514–1571 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  42. 42Johann Pistorius the ElderJohann Pistorius the Elder1504–1583 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  43. 43Andreas AlthamerAndreas Althamer1500–1539 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  44. 44MSMartin Schalling the Younger1532–1608 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  45. 45Stephan PraetoriusStephan Praetorius1536–1603 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  46. 46Georg RörerGeorg Rörer1492–1557 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  47. 47Ambrosius MoibanusAmbrosius Moibanus1494–1554 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  48. 48CVChristoph von Stadion1478–1543 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  49. 49Sibrandus LubbertusSibrandus Lubbertus1556–1625 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  50. 50VAVeit Amerbach1503–1557 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  51. 51Antonín Brus z MohelniceAntonín Brus z Mohelnice1518–1580 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  52. 52Friedrich StaphylusFriedrich Staphylus1512–1564 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  53. 53Johann PfeffingerJohann Pfeffinger1493–1573 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  54. 54Nicolaus GallusNicolaus Gallus1516–1570 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  55. 55CCCaspar Cruciger the Younger1525–1597 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  56. 56KOKrzysztof Ostorodt1560–1611 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  57. 57JGJohann Glandorp1501–1564 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  58. 58VKValentin Krautwald1465–1545 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  59. 59Johann BugenhagenJohann Bugenhagen1527–1594 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  60. 60MRMartin Rutilius1550–1618 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  61. 61JAJohannes Andreae1554–1601 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot 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.