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. 1Tomás Luis de VictoriaTomás Luis de Victoria1548–1611 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Musicians14 decades
  2. 2Antonio de CabezahuecaAntonio de Cabezahueca1510–1566 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Musicians12 decades
  3. 3Diego OrtizDiego Ortiz1510–1570 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Musicians22 decades
  4. 4LDLuis de Narváez1490–1552 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Musicians13 decades
  5. 5Alonso LoboAlonso Lobo1555–1617 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Musicians11 decades
  6. 6Francisco de SalinasFrancisco de Salinas1513–1590 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Musicians0 decades
  7. 7MDMiguel de Fuenllana1500–1579 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Musicians12 decades
  8. 8FDFrancisco de Peñalosa1470–1528 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Musicians10 decades
  9. 9SASebastian Aguilera de Heredia1561–1627 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Musicians2 decades
  10. 10EDEnríquez de Valderrábano1500–1557 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Musicians1 decades
  11. 11HFHernando Franco1532–1585 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Musicians7 decades
  12. 12DPDiego Pisador1509–1557 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Musicians8 decades
  13. 13BCBartomeu Càrceres1501–1501 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Musiciansnot measured—
  14. 14Sebastián RavalSebastián Raval1550–1604 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Musicians0 decades
  15. 15FDFrancisco de la Torre1500–1504 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Musiciansnot measured—
  16. 16Esteban DazaEsteban Daza1537–1591 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Musiciansnot measured—
  17. 17BDBartolomé de Escobedo1510–1563 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Musiciansnot measured—
  18. 18TDTomás de Santa María1515–1570 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Musiciansnot measured—
  19. 19LVLuis Venegas de Henestrosa1510–1570 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Musiciansnot measured—
  20. 20Francisco Soto de LangaFrancisco Soto de Langa1534–1619 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Musiciansnot measured—
  21. 21RDRodrigo de Ceballos1534–1581 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Musiciansnot measured—
  22. 22PAPere Alberch Vila1517–1582 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Musiciansnot measured—
  23. 23Hernando de CabezónHernando de Cabezón1541–1602 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Musiciansnot measured—
  24. 24MNMichael Navarrus1563–1627 · 🇪🇸 Spain · 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.