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. 1Heinrich BullingerHeinrich Bullinger1504–1575 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Writers22 decades
  2. 2Heinrich GlareanHeinrich Glarean1488–1563 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Writers5 decades
  3. 3Aegidius TschudiAegidius Tschudi1505–1572 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Writers0 decades
  4. 4Niklaus ManuelNiklaus Manuel1484–1530 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Writers18 decades
  5. 5Johannes OporinusJohannes Oporinus1507–1568 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Writers0 decades
  6. 6Thomas Platter the ElderThomas Platter the Elder1499–1582 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Writersnot measured—
  7. 7Johann StumpfJohann Stumpf1500–1577 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Writers0 decades
  8. 8Josias SimmlerJosias Simmler1530–1576 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Writers14 decades
  9. 9Basilius AmerbachBasilius Amerbach1533–1591 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Writers13 decades
  10. 10Rudolf GwaltherRudolf Gwalther1519–1586 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Writersnot measured—
  11. 11DCDurich Chiampell1510–1582 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Writersnot measured—
  12. 12Jos MurerJos Murer1530–1580 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Writersnot measured—
  13. 13Petrus DasypodiusPetrus Dasypodius1495–1559 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Writersnot measured—
  14. 14Valerius AnshelmValerius Anshelm1475–1547 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Writersnot measured—
  15. 15JTJachiam Tütschett Bifrun1506–1572 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Writersnot measured—
  16. 16SLSimon Lemnius1511–1550 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Writersnot measured—
  17. 17PGPamphilus Gengenbach1480–1525 · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Writersnot 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.