← Fame through time1500-1599
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 coverage and readership agree.
- 1
Anne of Cleves4 decades - 2
Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tillynot measured- - 3
John Frederick I6 decades - 4
William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg0 decades - 5
Sibylle of Clevesnot measured- - 6
Hans Staden13 decades - 7
John William, Duke of Saxe-Weimarnot measured- - 8
Wolfgang, Count Palatine of Zweibrückennot measured- - 9
William the Younger, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg6 decades - 10
Maria Anna of Bavarianot measured- - 11
Juliana of Stolbergnot measured- - 12
John Casimir of the Palatinate-Simmernnot measured- - 13
Philip Louis, Count Palatine of Neuburgnot measured- - 14
Duke Friedrich Wilhelm I, Duke of Saxe-Weimarnot measured- - 15
Sabina of Bavaria0 decades - 16
Louis X, Duke of Bavaria22 decades - 17
Louis II, Count Palatine of Zweibrückennot measured- - 18
Henry the Middle, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburgnot measured- - 19
Marie of Brandenburg-Kulmbachnot measured- - 20
John Frederick II of Saxony9 decades - 21
Eric II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburgnot measured- - 22
Hedwig of Brandenburg, Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttelnot measured- - 23
Ambrosius Ehinger5 decades - 24Henry, Duke of Brunswick-Dannenbergnot measured-
- 25
Enno III, Count of East Frisia6 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.