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. 1Philip MelanchthonPhilip Melanchthon1497–1560 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Scientists22 decades
  2. 2Johann Georg FaustJohann Georg Faust1480–1540 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Scientists0 decades
  3. 3Christopher ClaviusChristopher Clavius1538–1612 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Scientists1 decades
  4. 4William IV, Landgrave of Hesse-KasselWilliam IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel1532–1592 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Scientists22 decades
  5. 5Paul LutherPaul Luther1533–1593 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Scientists2 decades
  6. 6Otto BrunfelsOtto Brunfels1488–1534 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Scientists22 decades
  7. 7Valerius CordusValerius Cordus1515–1544 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Scientists3 decades
  8. 8Matthias RingmannMatthias Ringmann1482–1511 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Scientists0 decades
  9. 9Heinrich BüntingHeinrich Bünting1545–1606 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Scientists0 decades
  10. 10Basilius BeslerBasilius Besler1561–1629 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Scientists0 decades
  11. 11Leonhard RauwolfLeonhard Rauwolf1535–1596 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Scientists0 decades
  12. 12Nicolaus ReimersNicolaus Reimers1551–1600 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Scientists0 decades
  13. 13Jakob ChristmannJakob Christmann1554–1613 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Scientists0 decades
  14. 14ECEuricius Cordus1486–1535 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Scientists21 decades
  15. 15Rumold MercatorRumold Mercator1545–1599 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Scientists0 decades
  16. 16Georg HartmannGeorg Hartmann1489–1564 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Scientists22 decades
  17. 17Christoph RothmannChristoph Rothmann1560–1600 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Scientists0 decades
  18. 18Martin HelwigMartin Helwig1516–1574 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Scientists0 decades
  19. 19Bartholomäus ScultetusBartholomäus Scultetus1540–1614 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Scientistsnot measured—
  20. 20Melchior LotterMelchior Lotter1470–1549 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Scientistsnot measured—
  21. 21Daniel SpecklinDaniel Specklin1536–1589 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Scientistsnot measured—
  22. 22Paul WittichPaul Wittich1546–1586 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Scientistsnot measured—
  23. 23Johann DryanderJohann Dryander1500–1560 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Scientistsnot measured—
  24. 24Theodor DorstenTheodor Dorsten1492–1552 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Scientistsnot measured—
  25. 25Hieronymus HarderHieronymus Harder1523–1607 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Scientistsnot measured—
  26. 26MNMichael Neander1529–1581 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Scientistsnot 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.