← Fame through time1600-1699
The 17th century
Whose working lives fell in the 17th 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 17th century, ranked where coverage and readership agree.
- 1
René Descartes22 decades - 2
Louis XIV of France22 decades - 3
Molière22 decades - 4
Blaise Pascal22 decades - 5
Cardinal Richelieunot measured- - 6
Jean de La Fontaine22 decades - 7
Charles Perrault22 decades - 8
Jean Racine22 decades - 9
Pierre Corneille22 decades - 10
Marie de' Medici22 decades - 11
Cardinal Mazarin20 decades - 12
Prince Eugene of Savoy22 decades - 13
Cyrano de Bergerac0 decades - 14
Samuel de Champlain17 decades - 15
Pierre de Fermat8 decades - 16
Francis de Sales22 decades - 17
Louis XIII of France22 decades - 18
Jean-Baptiste Colbert22 decades - 19
Nicolas Poussin22 decades - 20
Vincent de Paul22 decades - 21
Philippe I, Duke of Orléansnot measured- - 22
Henrietta Maria of France0 decades - 23
Louis, Grand Dauphinnot measured- - 24
Madame de Sévigné13 decades - 25
Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon22 decades - 26
Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban2 decades - 27
Charles de Batz de Castelmore d'Artagnannot measured- - 28
Georges de La Tour9 decades - 29
Henrietta of England22 decades - 30
François Fénelon22 decades - 31
Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet22 decades - 32
Margaret Mary Alacoque18 decades - 33
Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux22 decades - 34
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Sallenot measured- - 35
Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart, Marquise de Montespan22 decades - 36
Jean de La Bruyère17 decades - 37
Gaston, Duke of Orléans17 decades - 38
Louis, Grand Condénot measured- - 39
Claude Lorrain18 decades - 40
François de La Rochefoucauld18 decades - 41
André Le Nôtre10 decades - 42
Jean-Baptiste de La Sallenot measured- - 43
Denis Papin19 decades - 44
Charles Le Brun22 decades - 45
Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle0 decades - 46
Ninon de Lenclos22 decades - 47
Marc-Antoine Charpentier9 decades - 48
Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Viscount of Turennenot measured- - 49
Madame de La Fayette17 decades - 50
Nicolas Fouquet22 decades - 51
Marin Mersenne17 decades - 52
François Ravaillac12 decades - 53
Pierre Gassendi21 decades - 54
Pierre Bayle22 decades - 55
Nicolas Malebranche11 decades - 56
Louise de La Vallière15 decades - 57
Madeleine de Scudéry17 decades - 58
Hyacinthe Rigaud19 decades - 59
Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans0 decades - 60
Jean Meslier22 decades - 61
Charles V, Duke of Lorraine2 decades - 62
Paul Scarron22 decades - 63
Marin Marais8 decades - 64
Jacques Marquette9 decades - 65
Elisabeth of France20 decades - 66
Christine of France22 decades - 67
Jules Hardouin-Mansart12 decades - 68
Jane Frances de Chantal17 decades - 69
Dom Pérignon10 decades - 70
Jean-Baptiste Tavernier5 decades - 71
François Mansart21 decades - 72
François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvoisnot measured- - 73
Jean François Paul de Gondinot measured- - 74
François Vatel0 decades - 75
François l'Olonnais0 decades - 76
Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac0 decades - 77
André-Hercule de Fleury0 decades - 78
François Leclerc du Tremblay0 decades - 79
Simon Vouet22 decades - 80
Concino Concini9 decades - 81
Louis Le Vau11 decades - 82
Jean Eudes19 decades - 83
Urbain Grandier22 decades - 84
Jeanne-Marie Bouvier de La Motte Guyonnot measured- - 85
Henri, Prince of Condénot measured- - 86
Louis Joseph, Duke of Vendôme0 decades - 87
Louise de Keroual, Duchess of Portsmouthnot measured- - 88
Pierre Mignard I22 decades - 89
Claude Louis Hector de Villarsnot measured- - 90
Marie Louise Gonzaga13 decades - 91
Théophile de Viau19 decades - 92
Louise Marillac20 decades - 93
Honoré d'Urfé22 decades - 94
Marie Mancini22 decades - 95
Henri Jules, Prince of Condénot measured- - 96
Hortense Mancini22 decades - 97
Marie Angélique de Scorailles, Duchess of Fontangesnot measured- - 98
François Louis, Prince of Continot measured- - 99
Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti0 decades - 100
Roger de Rabutin, Comte de Bussy0 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.