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.

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FieldAllHistorical FiguresWritersPoliticiansArtistsAcademicsReligious FiguresMusiciansScientistsModelsActors
  1. 1Fausto SozziniFausto Sozzini1539–1604 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Actors10 decades
  2. 2Thomas ErastusThomas Erastus1524–1583 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Actors0 decades
  3. 3Conrad GrebelConrad Grebel1498–1526 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Actors7 decades
  4. 4Joachim VadianJoachim Vadian1484–1551 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Actors19 decades
  5. 5Pierre ViretPierre Viret1511–1571 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Actors22 decades
  6. 6Theodore BiblianderTheodore Bibliander1500–1564 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Actors1 decades
  7. 7Leo JudLeo Jud1482–1542 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Actors0 decades
  8. 8Konrad PellikanKonrad Pellikan1478–1556 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Actors0 decades
  9. 9Johann Jakob WickJohann Jakob Wick1522–1588 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Actors3 decades
  10. 10Ludwig LavaterLudwig Lavater1527–1586 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Actors0 decades
  11. 11Benedictus AretiusBenedictus Aretius1522–1574 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Actorsnot measured—
  12. 12Ludwig HaetzerLudwig Haetzer1500–1529 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Actorsnot measured—
  13. 13Josua MaalerJosua Maaler1529–1599 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Actorsnot 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.