← 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
Miguel de Cervantes22 decades - 2
Teresa of Ávila22 decades - 3
Lope de Vega22 decades - 4
John of the Cross22 decades - 5
Bartolomé de las Casas22 decades - 6
Garcilaso de la Vega22 decades - 7
Luis de Góngora22 decades - 8
Luis de León22 decades - 9
Alonso de Ercilla22 decades - 10
José de Acosta21 decades - 11
Mateo Alemán21 decades - 12
Juan de Mariana22 decades - 13
Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés18 decades - 14
Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda21 decades - 15
Cristóbal de Morales18 decades - 16
Francisco López de Gómara14 decades - 17
Lope de Rueda22 decades - 18
Antonio Guevara Noroñanot measured- - 19
Benito Arias Montano22 decades - 20
Toribio de Benavente19 decades - 21
Diego Durán15 decades - 22
Vicente Espinel22 decades - 23
Fernando de Herrera22 decades - 24
Alonso Fernández de Avellaneda17 decades - 25
Juan del Encina2 decades - 26
Casiodoro de Reina18 decades - 27
Pedro de la Gasca22 decades - 28
Antonio de Herrera9 decades - 29
Juan de Castellanos20 decades - 30
Blessed Anne of Jesus18 decades - 31
Juan de Torquemada22 decades - 32
Nicholas Bobadilla3 decades - 33
Vespasiano I Gonzaganot measured- - 34
Antonio de Morganot measured- - 35
Anne of Saint Bartholomew17 decades - 36
Alonso de Orozco21 decades - 37
Pedro de Ribadeneira19 decades - 38
Luisa Sigea de Velasco20 decades - 39
Juan de la Cueva de Garozanot measured- - 40
Alonso de Molina21 decades - 41
Gutierre de Cetina22 decades - 42
Bartolomé Torres Naharro14 decades - 43
Lupercio Leonardo de Argensola22 decades - 44
Cristóbal de Castillejo21 decades - 45
Andrés Laguna22 decades - 46
Sebastián de Covarrubias14 decades - 47
Ambrosio de Morales22 decades - 48
Diego Hurtado de Mendozanot measured- - 49
Hernando de Acuña21 decades - 50
Pedro Mexía22 decades - 51
Baltasar del Alcázar20 decades - 52Bernardino de Mendoza22 decades
- 53Juan de Betanzos18 decades
- 54Francisco de Osuna20 decades
- 55
Juana de la Cruz Vázquez Gutiérrez22 decades - 56
Hernán Núñez2 decades - 57
Luis del Mármol Carvajal15 decades - 58Gerónimo de Mendieta15 decades
- 59Don Juan of Persia4 decades
- 60
Baltasar de Zúñiga y Velasconot measured- - 61
Juan Rufo22 decades - 62
Francisco Xerez19 decades - 63
Jerome Xaviernot measured- - 64
Francisco Cervantes de Salazar21 decades - 65
Jerome Gratian14 decades - 66
Francisco de Aldana22 decades - 67Alfonso Ceron0 decades
- 68
Pedro de Aguado12 decades - 69Prudencio de Sandoval22 decades
- 70Fernán Pérez de Oliva22 decades
- 71
Francisco Delicado16 decades - 72
Francisco de Mendozanot measured- - 73
Agustín de Zárate17 decades - 74
Fray Martín de Murúanot measured- - 75Pedro Chirino10 decades
- 76
Diego García de Paredesnot measured- - 77
Juan Fernández de Velasco, 5th Duke of Fríasnot measured- - 78Luis Barahona de Soto22 decades
- 79
Alonso Gutiérreznot measured- - 80Feliciano de Silvanot measured-
- 81Luis de Ávila y Zuniga15 decades
- 82Juan López de Hoyosnot measured-
- 83Ginés Pérez de Hita16 decades
- 84
Francisco Balbi di Correggionot measured- - 85
Iñigo López de Mendoza y Mendozanot measured- - 86
Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, 5th Marquis of Villafrancanot measured- - 87
Gonzalo II Fernández de Córdobanot measured- - 88
Pedro Sánchez de la Hoznot measured- - 89
Diego de Estella21 decades - 90Juan Cobonot measured-
- 91
Alonso Rodriguez22 decades - 92
Joan Perez de Lazarraganot measured- - 93
Francisco de Figueroa22 decades - 94
Pedro de Valencianot measured- - 95
Francisco de Valdeznot measured- - 96
Enrique de Guzmán, 2nd Count of Olivaresnot measured- - 97
Lorenzo IV Suárez de Figueroa y Córdobanot measured- - 98
Gonzalo Argote de Molinanot measured- - 99Diego de Haedonot measured-
- 100
Pedro Malón de Chaidenot 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.