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. 1Hans Leo HasslerHans Leo Hassler1564–1612 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musicians12 decades
  2. 2Barbara BlombergBarbara Blomberg1527–1597 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musicians13 decades
  3. 3JWJohann Walter1496–1570 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musicians20 decades
  4. 4Philipp NicolaiPhilipp Nicolai1556–1608 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musicians18 decades
  5. 5Johann CochlaeusJohann Cochlaeus1479–1552 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musicians12 decades
  6. 6Hans NeusidlerHans Neusidler1508–1563 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musicians0 decades
  7. 7Sethus CalvisiusSethus Calvisius1556–1615 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musicians12 decades
  8. 8Johannes EccardJohannes Eccard1553–1611 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musicians4 decades
  9. 9LLLeonhard Lechner1553–1606 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musicians8 decades
  10. 10Leonhard ThurneysserLeonhard Thurneysser1531–1596 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musicians7 decades
  11. 11Nikolaus HermanNikolaus Herman1500–1561 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musicians4 decades
  12. 12HPHieronymus Praetorius1560–1629 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musicians6 decades
  13. 13Sebastian VirdungSebastian Virdung1465–1511 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musicians0 decades
  14. 14Hans BuchnerHans Buchner1483–1538 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musicians14 decades
  15. 15MBMeir ben Isaac Katzenellenbogen1482–1565 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musiciansnot measured—
  16. 16Georg RhauGeorg Rhau1488–1548 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musicians14 decades
  17. 17Sebald HeydenSebald Heyden1499–1561 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musicians0 decades
  18. 18Lucas Osiander the ElderLucas Osiander the Elder1534–1604 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musiciansnot measured—
  19. 19Paulus MelissusPaulus Melissus1539–1602 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musicians5 decades
  20. 20HFHeinrich Faber1490–1552 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musicians9 decades
  21. 21Adam GumpeltzhaimerAdam Gumpeltzhaimer1559–1625 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musicians0 decades
  22. 22Caspar OthmayrCaspar Othmayr1515–1553 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musicians2 decades
  23. 23Hermann FinckHermann Finck1527–1558 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musicians0 decades
  24. 24JNJohannes Nucius1556–1620 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musicians0 decades
  25. 25JAJoachim a Burck1546–1610 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musicians0 decades
  26. 26MGMatthias Greitter1495–1550 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musiciansnot measured—
  27. 27LELazarus Ercker1528–1594 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musiciansnot measured—
  28. 28JPJacob Praetorius the Elder1530–1586 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musiciansnot measured—
  29. 29WDWolfgang Dachstein1487–1553 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musiciansnot measured—
  30. 30GDGallus Dressler1533–1581 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musiciansnot measured—
  31. 31Hans GerleHans Gerle1500–1554 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musiciansnot measured—
  32. 32Ottmar LusciniusOttmar Luscinius1487–1537 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musiciansnot measured—
  33. 33KHKasper Hassler1562–1618 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musiciansnot measured—
  34. 34Sebastian OchsenkhunSebastian Ochsenkhun1521–1574 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musiciansnot measured—
  35. 35FDFerdinando di Lasso1560–1609 · 🇩🇪 Germany · 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.