← 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
Niccolò Machiavelli22 decades - 2
Ivan the Terrible19 decades - 3
Suleiman the Magnificent11 decades - 4
Thomas More22 decades - 5
Catherine of Aragon20 decades - 6
Henry II of Francenot measured- - 7
Toyotomi Hideyoshi8 decades - 8
Francis II of France22 decades - 9
Boris Godunov22 decades - 10
William the Silentnot measured- - 11
Walter Raleigh22 decades - 12
Moctezuma II1 decades - 13
Feodor I of Russianot measured- - 14
Thomas Cromwell22 decades - 15
Margaret Tudor19 decades - 16
Vasili III of Russia12 decades - 17
Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley0 decades - 18
Matthias, Holy Roman Emperornot measured- - 19
Isabella of Portugalnot measured- - 20
Pargalı Ibrahim Pashanot measured- - 21
John of Austria22 decades - 22
Claude of France22 decades - 23
Jeanne d'Albret22 decades - 24
Stephen Báthory0 decades - 25
Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany22 decades - 26
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicesternot measured- - 27
Pedro de Valdivia22 decades - 28
Şehzade Mustafa0 decades - 29
Sigismund II Augustus0 decades - 30
Eleanor of Austria12 decades - 31
Hafsa Sultan0 decades - 32
Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Albanot measured- - 33
Yeonsangun of Joseonnot measured- - 34
John III of Portugal0 decades - 35
Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain22 decades - 36
Antoine of Navarre22 decades - 37
Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino22 decades - 38
Sokollu Mehmed Pasha0 decades - 39
Leo Africanus15 decades - 40
Andrea Doria22 decades - 41
Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma21 decades - 42
Piero the Unfortunate0 decades - 43
Sebastian of Portugal6 decades - 44
Francis Walsingham22 decades - 45
Henry I, Duke of Guise0 decades - 46
Jean de Valette Parisotnot measured- - 47
Bairam Khan11 decades - 48
John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberlandnot measured- - 49
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghleynot measured- - 50
Rüstem Pasha0 decades - 51
Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley22 decades - 52
Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence11 decades - 53
Pratap Singhnot measured- - 54
Alonso de Ojeda22 decades - 55
Francis Borgia, 4th Duke of Gandíanot measured- - 56
Joanna of Austria, Princess of Portugal22 decades - 57
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolknot measured- - 58
Sonam Gyatso0 decades - 59
Ibrahim Lodi4 decades - 60
Emanuele Filiberto I, Duke of Savoy17 decades - 61
Florian Geyer18 decades - 62
2nd Dalai Lamanot measured- - 63
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisburynot measured- - 64
Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully22 decades - 65
Louis, Prince of Condénot measured- - 66
Louise of Savoy17 decades - 67
Edward Coke22 decades - 68
Francis, Duke of Guisenot measured- - 69
Diego Columbusnot measured- - 70
Eleanor of Toledonot measured- - 71
Anne de Montmorency22 decades - 72
Johan van Oldenbarnevelt0 decades - 73
Raja Birbal0 decades - 74
Lord Guildford Dudley9 decades - 75
Zhang Juzheng7 decades - 76
Sayyida al-Hurra0 decades - 77
Rani Durgavati1 decades - 78
Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara0 decades - 79
John, Elector of Saxony22 decades - 80
Nikola Šubić Zrinski0 decades - 81
Antonio de Mendoza0 decades - 82
Giuliano de' Medici, Duke of Nemoursnot measured- - 83
Ana de Mendoza, Princess of Ebolinot measured- - 84
Honda Tadakatsu0 decades - 85
Malik Ambar6 decades - 86
Lawrence of Brindisi22 decades - 87
Cuitláhuac0 decades - 88
Jean Nicot22 decades - 89
Dmitry of Uglich0 decades - 90
Xu Guangqi8 decades - 91Al-Mutawakkil IIInot measured-
- 92
Lala Kara Mustafa Paşanot measured- - 93
Abbakka Chowtanot measured- - 94
Francisco Gómez de Sandoval, 1st Duke of Lermanot measured- - 95
Pier Luigi Farnese16 decades - 96
Chand Bibi0 decades - 97
Infanta Catherine Michelle of Spain0 decades - 98
George, Duke of Saxony15 decades - 99
Lutfi Pasha0 decades - 100
Chief Powhatan1 decades
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.