← 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
Oliver Cromwell22 decades - 2
George I of Great Britainnot measured- - 3
Guy Fawkes22 decades - 4
Marie de' Medici22 decades - 5
Ivan Mazepa14 decades - 6
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John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlboroughnot measured- - 7
Frederick I of Prussianot measured- - 8
Louis XIII of France22 decades - 9
Jean-Baptiste Colbert22 decades - 10
Henry Morgan22 decades - 11
Samuel Pepys22 decades - 12
Henrietta Maria of France0 decades - 13
Richard Cromwell22 decades - 14
Koxinga10 decades - 15
Sophia Alekseyevna of Russia16 decades - 16
Christian IV of Denmark1 decades - 17
Sophia of Hanover2 decades - 18
Bohdan Khmelnytsky1 decades - 19
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckinghamnot measured- - 20
Albrecht von Wallenstein20 decades - 21
Hong Taiji0 decades - 22
Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlboroughnot measured- - 23
Frederick III of Denmark0 decades - 24
Peter Stuyvesant22 decades - 25
Jahandar Shah5 decades - 26
Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain0 decades - 27
Maurice, Prince of Orangenot measured- - 28
Kara Mustafa Pasha0 decades - 29
Louis, Grand Condénot measured- - 30
Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria5 decades - 31
Dmitry Pozharsky19 decades - 32
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Jan van Riebeeck7 decades - 33
Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales0 decades - 34
Isabella Clara Eugenia5 decades - 35
Frederick Henry of Orange-Nassaunot measured- - 36
Nicolas Fouquet22 decades - 37
5th Dalai Lamanot measured- - 38
Axel Oxenstierna20 decades - 39
Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameronnot measured- - 40
Tokugawa Iemitsu0 decades - 41
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essexnot measured- - 42
Tokugawa Hidetada0 decades - 43
Kuzma Minin18 decades - 44
Li Zicheng9 decades - 45
George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarlenot measured- - 46
Boris Sheremetev18 decades - 47
Peter Minuit16 decades - 48
Elisabeth of France20 decades - 49
Christine of France22 decades - 50
Dorgon4 decades - 51
Raimondo, Prince Montecuccolinot measured- - 52
Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivaresnot measured- - 53
François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvoisnot measured- - 54
Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria22 decades - 55
Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany19 decades - 56
Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal0 decades - 57
Yonten Gyatso0 decades - 58
Elias Ashmole22 decades - 59Injo of Joseonnot measured-
- 60
Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany16 decades - 61
Natalya Naryshkina0 decades - 62
Francesco Morosini22 decades - 63
Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine15 decades - 64
Gabriel Bethlen0 decades - 65
Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany19 decades - 66
Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine0 decades - 67
François Leclerc du Tremblay0 decades - 68
Balaji Vishwanath0 decades - 69
Concino Concini9 decades - 70
John of Austria the Younger21 decades - 71
Sigismund Báthory0 decades - 72
Yuan Chonghuan1 decades - 73
John Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen20 decades - 74
Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesburynot measured- - 75
Rafael Casanova11 decades - 76
Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria22 decades - 77
Thomas Wentworth22 decades - 78
Henry Ireton9 decades - 79
Lennart Torstensson0 decades
- 80
Claude Louis Hector de Villarsnot measured- - 81
Marie Louise Gonzaga13 decades - 82
Edward Colston12 decades - 83
Algernon Sidney22 decades - 84
Luisa de Guzmánnot measured- - 85
Tokugawa Ienobu0 decades - 86
Shi Lang5 decades - 87
Stefan Czarniecki0 decades - 88
Fasiladas0 decades - 89
Archduchess Maria Maddalena of Austria0 decades - 90
Köprülü Mehmed Paşa0 decades - 91
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckinghamnot measured- - 92
Jan Karol Chodkiewicz0 decades - 93
Jan Mourad Janszoonnot measured- - 94
Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria0 decades - 95
Louis de Buade de Frontenac0 decades - 96Gerrard Winstanley6 decades
- 97
Al-Rashid of Morocconot measured- - 98
Khusrau Mirza0 decades - 99
Countess Louise Henriette of Nassau0 decades - 100
Charles d'Albert de Luynes20 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.