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.
#PersonIn print, 1800–2019Echoed
- 1
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George I of Great Britain1660–1727 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians22 decades - 2
Frederick I of Prussia1657–1713 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians22 decades - 3
Sophia of Hanover1630–1714 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians2 decades - 4
Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria1662–1726 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians5 decades - 5
Maurice, Prince of Orange1567–1625 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 6
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Peter Minuit1580–1638 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians16 decades - 7
Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria1636–1679 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians22 decades - 8
Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine1617–1680 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians0 decades - 9
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Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine1661–1742 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 10
John George IV, Elector of Saxony1668–1694 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians21 decades - 11
William V, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel1602–1637 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians22 decades - 12
Countess Louise Juliana of Nassau1576–1644 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 13
Ernest Casimir I, Count of Nassau-Dietz1573–1632 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians13 decades - 14
Bernhard I of Saxe-Meiningen1649–1706 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians21 decades - 15
Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels1614–1680 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 16
Christian Ernst, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth1644–1712 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians22 decades - 17
Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen1655–1715 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 18
Magdalena Sibylla of Hesse-Darmstadt1652–1712 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 19
Maria Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp1634–1665 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 20
Ferdinand Maximilian, Hereditary Prince of Baden-Baden1625–1669 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 21
Christian I, Duke of Saxe-Merseburg1615–1691 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians22 decades - 22
Elizabeth Lucretia, Duchess of Cieszyn1599–1653 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians0 decades - 23
Sophie of Solms-Laubach1594–1651 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 24
Leopold Karl von Kollonitsch1631–1707 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians0 decades - 25
Dodo zu Innhausen und Knyphausen1583–1636 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians0 decades - 26
Maximilian Philipp Hieronymus, Duke of Bavaria-Leuchtenberg1638–1705 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians0 decades - 27
Philip Louis II, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg1576–1612 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians5 decades - 28
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Jacob Leisler1640–1691 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians2 decades - 29
Adam, Count of Schwarzenberg1583–1641 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians9 decades - 30
Joachim Andreas von Schlick1569–1621 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians1 decades - 31
Margaret Elisabeth of Leiningen-Westerburg1604–1667 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 32CPCharles Philip of Brandenburg-Schwedt1673–1695 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured—
- 33
Ernst Bogislaw von Croÿ1620–1684 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 34
Herman Egon, Prince of Fürstenberg1627–1674 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 35
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Eberhard von Danckelmann1643–1722 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians0 decades - 36
Johann Kasimir Kolbe von Wartenberg1643–1712 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 37
John Caspar of Ampringen1619–1684 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians0 decades - 38
Albrecht Konrad Finck von Finckenstein1660–1735 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 39
Alexander Hermann, Count of Wartensleben1650–1734 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 40HMHans Meinhard von Schönberg1582–1616 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured—
- 41
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Anna Eleonore of Stolberg-Wernigerode1651–1690 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 42
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Christian Albert, Burgrave and Count of Dohna1621–1677 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 43
Christian von Rantzau1614–1663 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 44
Elisabeth Johanna of Veldenz1653–1718 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 45
Johann Matthias Kager1575–1634 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 46
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Alexander von Spaen1619–1692 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 47
David Mevius1609–1670 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 48
Christian Siegfried von Plessen1646–1723 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot measured— - 49JKJoachim Karl of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel1573–1615 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politiciansnot 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.