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. 1Peter Paul RubensPeter Paul Rubens1577–1640 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artists22 decades
  2. 2Anna Maria van SchurmanAnna Maria van Schurman1607–1678 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artists0 decades
  3. 3Godfrey KnellerGodfrey Kneller1646–1723 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artists0 decades
  4. 4Andreas SchlüterAndreas Schlüter1660–1714 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artists18 decades
  5. 5Adam ElsheimerAdam Elsheimer1578–1610 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artists13 decades
  6. 6Balthasar PermoserBalthasar Permoser1651–1732 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artists12 decades
  7. 7Johann LissJohann Liss1597–1629 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artists6 decades
  8. 8Daniel SchultzDaniel Schultz1615–1683 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artists0 decades
  9. 9Georg FlegelGeorg Flegel1566–1638 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artists5 decades
  10. 10Michael WillmannMichael Willmann1630–1706 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artists7 decades
  11. 11Bartlomiej StrobelBartlomiej Strobel1591–1647 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  12. 12Jan BoeckhorstJan Boeckhorst1604–1668 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artists0 decades
  13. 13Johann Carl LothJohann Carl Loth1632–1698 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artists1 decades
  14. 14Johann Melchior DinglingerJohann Melchior Dinglinger1664–1731 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artists3 decades
  15. 15Jürgen OvensJürgen Ovens1623–1678 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artists5 decades
  16. 16Philipp Peter RoosPhilipp Peter Roos1657–1706 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artists1 decades
  17. 17Johann Heinrich RoosJohann Heinrich Roos1631–1685 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artists4 decades
  18. 18Johann Heinrich SchönfeldJohann Heinrich Schönfeld1609–1684 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artists5 decades
  19. 19Christoph Weigel the ElderChristoph Weigel the Elder1654–1725 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  20. 20Jan BrokoffJan Brokoff1652–1718 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artists0 decades
  21. 21Joseph Heintz the YoungerJoseph Heintz the Younger1600–1678 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  22. 22Benjamin BlockBenjamin Block1631–1690 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artists0 decades
  23. 23Johann Wilhelm BaurJohann Wilhelm Baur1607–1642 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artists0 decades
  24. 24John ClostermanJohn Closterman1660–1711 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  25. 25Wolfgang HeimbachWolfgang Heimbach1615–1678 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  26. 26Franz Werner TammFranz Werner Tamm1658–1724 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artists0 decades
  27. 27Georg PetelGeorg Petel1601–1634 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  28. 28Francis CleynFrancis Cleyn1582–1658 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artists0 decades
  29. 29Anna Katharina BlockAnna Katharina Block1642–1719 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  30. 30Johann Melchior RoosJohann Melchior Roos1663–1731 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artists0 decades
  31. 31LKLeonhard Kern1588–1662 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  32. 32Willem van BemmelWillem van Bemmel1630–1708 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  33. 33Heinrich MeyringHeinrich Meyring1628–1723 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  34. 34Goffredo WalsGoffredo Wals1595–1638 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artists0 decades
  35. 35Anna Maria von Baden-DurlachAnna Maria von Baden-Durlach1617–1672 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  36. 36Mathias RauchmillerMathias Rauchmiller1645–1686 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  37. 37Christopher PaudißChristopher Paudiß1630–1666 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  38. 38Pieter SchoubroeckPieter Schoubroeck1570–1607 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  39. 39Christian BerentzChristian Berentz1658–1722 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  40. 40Martin Hermann FaberMartin Hermann Faber1587–1648 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  41. 41Georg HainzGeorg Hainz1630–1688 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  42. 42Melchior BarthelMelchior Barthel1625–1672 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  43. 43Ludwig MünstermannLudwig Münstermann1570–1637 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  44. 44Jan Kryštof LiškaJan Kryštof Liška1650–1712 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  45. 45Paul Juvenell the ElderPaul Juvenell the Elder1579–1643 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  46. 46Peter BinoitPeter Binoit1590–1632 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  47. 47OEOttmar Elliger1633–1679 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  48. 48Johann Ulrich MayrJohann Ulrich Mayr1630–1704 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  49. 49Susanna MayrSusanna Mayr1600–1674 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  50. 50Philipp UffenbachPhilipp Uffenbach1566–1636 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  51. 51Tobias PockTobias Pock1609–1683 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  52. 52Andreas Matthäus WolfgangAndreas Matthäus Wolfgang1660–1736 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  53. 53Daniel BlokDaniel Blok1580–1660 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  54. 54Luigi QuainiLuigi Quaini1643–1717 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  55. 55Johann BussemacherJohann Bussemacherdied 1613 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  56. 56Franz WulfhagenFranz Wulfhagen1624–1670 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  57. 57Melchior KüselMelchior Küsel1626–1684 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  58. 58Esther Barbara BloemartEsther Barbara Bloemart1651–1733 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  59. 59Johann Oswald HarmsJohann Oswald Harms1643–1708 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  60. 60Simon Peter TilemannSimon Peter Tilemann1601–1668 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  61. 61Józef Antoni KrausJózef Antoni Kraus1650–1721 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  62. 62Matthias ScheitsMatthias Scheits1630–1700 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot measured—
  63. 63Hendrik van der Borcht IIHendrik van der Borcht II1614–1676 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Artistsnot 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.