← 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
William the Silentnot measured- - 2
Florian Geyer18 decades - 3
John, Elector of Saxony22 decades - 4
George, Duke of Saxony15 decades - 5
Christine of Saxonynot measured- - 6
John VI, Count of Nassau-Siegennot measured- - 7
Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburgnot measured- - 8
William Louis, Count of Nassau-Dillenburgnot measured- - 9
Bernhard Knipperdolling0 decades - 10
Hans Staininger0 decades - 11
Lazarus von Schwendi19 decades - 12
Jürgen Wullenwever15 decades - 13
Anna of Veldenznot measured- - 14
Nikolaus Krell1 decades - 15
Joss Fritz12 decades - 16
Margaret of Münsterbergnot measured- - 17
Jacob Sturm von Sturmeck1 decades - 18Johan I of East Frisianot measured-
- 19
George of the Palatinate0 decades - 20
Mark Welser5 decades - 21
Adolphus of Neuenahr1 decades - 22
Bodo III, Count of Stolberg-Wernigerode3 decades - 23
Ulrich Rülein von Calw2 decades - 24
Christoph von Scheurl19 decades - 25
John Eustach of Westernach0 decades - 26
Hans Lufftnot measured- - 27
Georg Schenck van Toutenburgnot measured- - 28
Leonhard von Ecknot measured- - 29
Hieronymus Lotternot measured- - 30
Heinrich Sudermannnot measured- - 31Louis, Count of Stolbergnot measured-
- 32
Christian Beyernot measured- - 33
Ditmar Koelnot measured- - 34Heinrich von Galennot measured-
- 35
Johann Georg Gödelmannnot measured- - 36
Johannes Feigenot measured- - 37
Melchior Ossenot measured- - 38
Andreas Gaillnot measured- - 39
Busso von Alvenslebennot measured- - 40Wolfgang zu Stolberg-Wernigerodenot measured-
- 41
Jakob Bordingnot measured- - 42
Justus Jonas der Jüngerenot measured- - 43Christoph Schütznot measured-
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.