← 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
Diego Velázquez20 decades - 2
Charles II of Spain18 decades - 3
Philip IV of Spain20 decades - 4
Philip III of Spain19 decades - 5
Francisco Quevedo22 decades - 6
Anne of Austrianot measured- - 7
Pedro Calderón de la Barca22 decades - 8
Maria Theresa of Spain22 decades - 9
Francisco de Zurbarán12 decades - 10
Baltasar Gracián14 decades - 11
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo20 decades - 12
Margaret Theresa of Spain0 decades - 13
Jusepe de Ribera18 decades - 14
Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain0 decades - 15
Maria Anna of Spainnot measured- - 16
Tirso de Molina22 decades - 17
Isabella Clara Eugenia5 decades - 18
Balthasar Charles8 decades - 19
Marie Louise d’Orléans20 decades - 20
Peter of Saint Joseph Betancur2 decades - 21
Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivaresnot measured- - 22
Ambrogio Spinola, 1st Marquis of the Balbases9 decades - 23
Juan Ruiz de Alarcón15 decades - 24
Alonso Cano22 decades - 25
Mary of Jesus de León y Delgadonot measured- - 26
Rafael Casanova11 decades - 27
Antonio19 decades - 28
Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria22 decades - 29
Juan Carreño de Miranda16 decades - 30
Luisa de Guzmánnot measured- - 31
Philip Prospero, Prince of Asturias0 decades - 32Luís Vaz de Torres2 decades
- 33
Gaspar Sanz Celmanot measured- - 34
María de Zayas22 decades - 35
Juan de Valdés Leal16 decades - 36
Antonio Palomino22 decades - 37
Giulio Alberoni0 decades - 38
Juan de Palafox y Mendoza22 decades - 39
Josefa de Óbidosnot measured- - 40
Infante Carlos of Spainnot measured- - 41
Claudio Coello22 decades - 42
Luisa Roldán4 decades - 43
Juan Martínez Montañés15 decades - 44
Gregorio Fernández14 decades - 45
Maria Pita0 decades - 46
Miguel de Molinos20 decades - 47
Juan de Pareja19 decades - 48
Luis Vélez de Guevara18 decades - 49
Pedro De Mena21 decades - 50
John Macias13 decades - 51Francisco Herrera the Younger0 decades
- 52
Antonio de Pereda17 decades - 53
Diego de Saavedra Fajardo21 decades - 54
Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz19 decades - 55
Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo4 decades - 56
Francisco Herrera the Elder1 decades - 57
Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxóchitl12 decades - 58
Juan Pablo Bonetnot measured- - 59Juan Gómez de Mora16 decades
- 60
Jorge Manuel Theocupulus5 decades - 61Francisco de Rojas Zorrilla17 decades
- 62
Diego Luis de San Vitores0 decades - 63
Bernardo de Balbuena22 decades - 64
Francisco Rizi18 decades - 65
Agustín Moreto y Cavana21 decades - 66Gabriel de Castilla19 decades
- 67
Isabel Barreto16 decades - 68
Juan van der Hamen1 decades - 69Juan de Jáuregui22 decades
- 70
Francis Ferdinand de Capillas0 decades - 71
Pedro Roldán14 decades - 72
Alonso de Contreras19 decades - 73
Juan Manuel María de la Aurora, 8th duke of Escalona6 decades - 74
Mateo Cerezo21 decades - 75
Juan Perez de Montalban16 decades - 76
Luis Méndez de Haronot measured- - 77
Juan Everardo Nithard4 decades - 78
Gaspar de Borja y Velasco9 decades - 79
María Calderón19 decades - 80
Luis Sotelo19 decades - 81
Diego Fernández de Córdoba, Marquis of Guadalcázarnot measured- - 82
Luis Manuel Fernández de Portocarreronot measured- - 83Bernabé Cobo19 decades
- 84
Juan Eusebio Nieremberg22 decades - 85
Juan de Zurbarán1 decades - 86
Antonio de Solís y Ribadeneyra8 decades - 87
Rodrigo Caro22 decades - 88
Luis Tristán13 decades - 89
Pedro Téllez-Girón, 3rd Duke of Osunanot measured- - 90
Juan de Mendoza, 3rd Marquis of Montesclarosnot measured- - 91Ana Caro de Mallén0 decades
- 92
Baltasar de Zúñiga, 1st Duke of Ariónnot measured- - 93
Diego López Pacheco, 7th Duke of Escalonanot measured- - 94
Juan de Mesa22 decades - 95
García Sarmiento de Sotomayor, 2nd Count of Salvatierranot measured- - 96
Nicolás Antonio22 decades - 97
Francisco de Borja y Aragón13 decades - 98
Payo Enríquez de Rivera12 decades - 99
José Sarmiento de Valladares, 1st Duke of Atrisco0 decades - 100
Luisa Carvajal y Mendoza0 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.