Claim profile
1600–1699

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 Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.

CountryAll🇫🇷 France🇩🇪 Germany🇬🇧 United Kingdom🇯🇵 Japan🇹🇷 Turkey🇳🇱 Netherlands🇪🇸 Spain🇮🇹 Italy🇸🇪 Sweden🇨🇳 China
FieldAllWritersPoliticiansHistorical FiguresArtistsAcademicsScientistsMusiciansReligious FiguresActorsModels
  1. 1Philipp Jakob SpenerPhilipp Jakob Spener1635–1705 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors15 decades
  2. 2Wenceslaus HollarWenceslaus Hollar1607–1677 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors3 decades
  3. 3Johann Heinrich AlstedJohann Heinrich Alsted1588–1638 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors0 decades
  4. 4Mark Sittich von HohenemsMark Sittich von Hohenems1574–1619 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors0 decades
  5. 5Simon EpiscopiusSimon Episcopius1583–1643 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors3 decades
  6. 6Martin RinkartMartin Rinkart1586–1649 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors3 decades
  7. 7David HollatzDavid Hollatz1648–1713 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors0 decades
  8. 8Johannes OleariusJohannes Olearius1611–1684 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors0 decades
  9. 9August Frederick of Holstein-GottorpAugust Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp1646–1705 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  10. 10Conrad VorstiusConrad Vorstius1569–1622 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  11. 11Jacob von SandrartJacob von Sandrart1630–1708 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  12. 12Johann Benedict Carpzov IIJohann Benedict Carpzov II1639–1699 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  13. 13Johannes CrelliusJohannes Crellius1590–1633 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actors0 decades
  14. 14Johann Wilhelm PetersenJohann Wilhelm Petersen1649–1727 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  15. 15Johann Conrad DannhauerJohann Conrad Dannhauer1603–1666 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  16. 16Wolfgang KilianWolfgang Kilian1581–1663 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  17. 17Ludwig von SiegenLudwig von Siegen1609–1680 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  18. 18Lucas KilianLucas Kilian1579–1637 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  19. 19Petrus van MastrichtPetrus van Mastricht1630–1706 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  20. 20Johann Friedrich MayerJohann Friedrich Mayer1650–1712 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  21. 21Salomon GlassSalomon Glass1593–1656 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  22. 22Matthias Hoe von HoeneggMatthias Hoe von Hoenegg1580–1645 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  23. 23SCSamuel Crellius1660–1747 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  24. 24Gerhard Wolter MolanusGerhard Wolter Molanus1633–1722 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  25. 25Constantine L'Empereur van OppyckConstantine L'Empereur van Oppyck1591–1648 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  26. 26Matthias MartiniusMatthias Martinius1572–1630 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  27. 27Vitus Georg TönnemannVitus Georg Tönnemann1659–1740 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  28. 28Johann HulsmanJohann Hulsman1610–1652 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Actorsnot measured—
  29. 29Heinrich GösekenHeinrich Göseken1612–1681 · 🇩🇪 Germany · 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.