← 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
Johannes Kepler18 decades - 2
Peter Paul Rubens22 decades - 3
George I of Great Britainnot measured- - 4
Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperornot measured- - 5
Frederick I of Prussianot measured- - 6Johann Pachelbel9 decades
- 7
Sophia of Hanover2 decades - 8
Jakob Böhme22 decades - 9
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburgnot measured- - 10
Athanasius Kircher21 decades - 11
Frederick V of the Palatinatenot measured- - 12
Elizabeth Charlotte, Madame Palatine11 decades - 13
Dieterich Buxtehude1 decades - 14
Prince Rupert of the Rhinenot measured- - 15
Maurice, Prince of Orangenot measured- - 16
Otto von Guericke10 decades - 17
Maximilian I, Elector of Bavarianot measured- - 18
Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria5 decades - 19
Heinrich Schütz20 decades - 20
Paul Gerhardt20 decades - 21
Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen8 decades - 22
Peter Minuit16 decades - 23
Johann Georg I, Elector of Saxonynot measured- - 24
Michael Praetorius15 decades - 25
Godfrey Kneller0 decades - 26
John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg22 decades - 27
Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria22 decades - 28
Andreas Gryphius22 decades - 29
Ernest Augustus, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg22 decades - 30
Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine0 decades - 31
Gottfried Heinrich Graf zu Pappenheim0 decades - 32
Anna Maria van Schurman0 decades - 33
Engelbert Kaempfer7 decades - 34
Joachim Neander14 decades - 35
George, Duke of Brunswick-Calenbergnot measured- - 36
Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gothanot measured- - 37
Martin Opitz22 decades - 38
Hennig Brand0 decades - 39
Charles II, Elector Palatinenot measured- - 40
Johann Joseph Fux9 decades - 41
Christian Albert I of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorpnot measured- - 42
Johann Ambrosius Bach0 decades - 43
Johann Adam Schall von Bell5 decades - 44
Friedrich Spee21 decades - 45
Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kasselnot measured-
- 46
Ernst von Mansfeld0 decades - 47
Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburgnot measured- - 48
Wenceslaus Hollar3 decades - 49
Amalia of Solms-Braunfels0 decades - 50
Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kasselnot measured- - 51
Philipp Jakob Spener15 decades - 52
Johann Bayer8 decades - 53
John, Duke of Saxe-Weimarnot measured- - 54
Hans Lippershey1 decades - 55
Princess Anna Sophie of Denmark0 decades - 56
Christian the Younger of Brunswick0 decades - 57
Charles III Philip, Elector Palatinenot measured- - 58
Abraham a Sancta Clara21 decades - 59
Andreas Schlüter18 decades - 60
Frederick Louis of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Becknot measured- - 61
Adam Elsheimer13 decades - 62
Bernard of Saxe-Weimar22 decades - 63
George II, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadtnot measured- - 64
Georg Ernst Stahl20 decades - 65
Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg20 decades - 66
Edward, Count Palatine of Simmern0 decades
- 67
Simon Dach22 decades - 68
Frederick Schomberg, 1st Duke of Schomberg0 decades - 69
Paul Fleming16 decades - 70
Heinrich Matthias von Thurn2 decades - 71
Samuel Scheidt15 decades - 72
John George IV, Elector of Saxony21 decades - 73
Fidelis of Sigmaringen7 decades - 74
Benedicta Henrietta of the Palatinatenot measured- - 75
Louis V, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadtnot measured- - 76
Wolfgang William, Count Palatine of Neuburg22 decades - 77
Louis VI of Hesse-Darmstadtnot measured-
- 78
William V, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel22 decades - 79
John Casimir, Count Palatine of Kleeburgnot measured- - 80
Frederick I of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburgnot measured- - 81
Princess Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe-Eisenach0 decades - 82
Glückel of Hameln0 decades - 83
Frederick VII, Margrave of Baden-Durlach0 decades - 84Georg Böhm17 decades
- 85
Johann Hermann Schein10 decades - 86
John Frederick, Duke of Württembergnot measured- - 87
George William of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Cellenot measured- - 88
Countess Louise Juliana of Nassaunot measured- - 89
Johann Crüger10 decades - 90
Elizabeth of Denmark, Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel0 decades - 91
Christian IInot measured- - 92
Johann von Werth21 decades - 93
John Frederick, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburgnot measured- - 94
Michael Maier8 decades - 95
Georg Muffat0 decades - 96
John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbachnot measured- - 97
Anthony Ulrich, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttelnot measured- - 98
Christian II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeldnot measured- - 99
Augustus the Younger, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg22 decades - 100
Christian I of Birkenfeld-Bischweilernot measured-
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.