← 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
Nell Gwyn22 decades - 2
Richard Burbage22 decades - 3
Matthew Henry22 decades - 4
John Owen22 decades - 5
Antoine Arnauld22 decades - 6
Wenceslaus Hollar3 decades - 7
Giovanni Battista Riccioli0 decades - 8
Philipp Jakob Spener15 decades - 9
Johannes Valentinus Andreae12 decades - 10
Madeleine Béjart20 decades - 11
John Smyth22 decades - 12
Bernard de Montfaucon22 decades - 13
Maria Aurora von Königsmarck0 decades - 14
Edward Alleyn22 decades - 15
Jeremy Taylor22 decades - 16
Abraham Bosse22 decades - 17
Armande Béjart18 decades - 18
John Cotton22 decades - 19
Leo Allatius22 decades - 20
Richard Simon22 decades - 21
Pierre Nicole22 decades - 22
Samuel Rutherford20 decades - 23
Gisbertus Voetius0 decades - 24
Armand Jean Le Bouthillier Rancénot measured- - 25
Balthasar Bekker0 decades - 26
William Brewster22 decades - 27
Pierre de Bérulle21 decades - 28
Margaret Hughes4 decades - 29
Jean du Vergier de Hauranne9 decades - 30
Johann Heinrich Alsted0 decades - 31
Pasquier Quesnel12 decades - 32
William Ames22 decades - 33
Gerardus Vossius0 decades - 34
Elizabeth Barry0 decades - 35Thomas Aikenhead1 decades
- 36
Giovanni Diodati21 decades - 37Isaac La Peyrère0 decades
- 38
Antoinette Bourignon20 decades - 39Robert Barclay22 decades
- 40
John of Tobolsk0 decades - 41John Heminges2 decades
- 42
John Lightfoot15 decades - 43
Margaret Fell22 decades - 44
Frederik de Wit0 decades - 45
María Calderón19 decades - 46
John Flavel8 decades - 47
Abraham Calovius0 decades - 48
Marquise-Thérèse de Gorla0 decades - 49
Gilbert Sheldon11 decades - 50
Jakob Abbadie2 decades - 51
Edward Kynaston7 decades - 52Alasdair Mac Colla0 decades
- 53Henry Condell12 decades
- 54
Jean de Labadie6 decades - 55
Mark Sittich von Hohenemsnot measured- - 56
John Mill21 decades - 57
Michel Baron9 decades - 58
Florent Carton Dancourtnot measured- - 59
Stefano della Bella21 decades - 60
Simon Episcopius3 decades - 61
Pieter de Molijn0 decades - 62
Moses Amyraut2 decades - 63
Thomas Betterton18 decades - 64
Marie Champmeslé0 decades - 65Martin Droeshout2 decades
- 66
Richard Sibbes2 decades - 67
Jean Leclerc21 decades
- 68
Hermann Witsius0 decades
- 69
Martin Rinkart3 decades - 70
Anna Renzi6 decades - 71
La Grange22 decades - 72
John de Lugo1 decades - 73
Catherine Leclerc du Rose3 decades - 74
Alexander Whitaker1 decades - 75
Gérard Audran21 decades - 76
Antonia of Württemberg0 decades - 77
Philippus van Limborch0 decades - 78
Thomas Goodwin22 decades - 79
Wilhelmus à Brakel0 decades - 80
Bari Imamnot measured- - 81
Nuruddin ar-Raniri0 decades - 82
Romeyn de Hooghe0 decades - 83
Hermann Busenbaum0 decades
- 84Abd al-Wahid Ibn Ashirnot measured-
- 85
John Clarkenot measured- - 86
Paulus Pontius0 decades - 87
August Frederick of Holstein-Gottorpnot measured- - 88
Jesper Swedbergnot measured- - 89
Arnoldus Montanusnot measured- - 90
Stephen Charnocknot measured- - 91
Patriarch Jeremias III of Constantinoplenot measured- - 92
Tiberio Fiorilli1 decades - 93
Richard Mathernot measured- - 94
Campegius Vitringanot measured- - 95
Noël Alexandre18 decades - 96
Pierre Du Moulin19 decades - 97
David Hollatz0 decades - 98
William Pynchonnot measured- - 99
Lucas Vorsterman the Elder0 decades - 100Joseph Alleine6 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.