215,950 profiles ranked

← 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. 1Cardinal Richelieu1585-1642 · France · Religious Figuresnot measured-
  2. 2Cardinal Mazarin1602-1661 · France · Religious Figures20 decades
  3. 3Pope Benedict XIII1649-1730 · Italy · Religious Figures20 decades
  4. 4Rose of Lima1586-1617 · Religious Figures22 decades
  5. 5Pope Urban VIII1568-1644 · Religious Figures22 decades
  6. 6Francis de Sales1567-1622 · France · Religious Figures22 decades
  7. 7Vincent de Paul1581-1660 · France · Religious Figures22 decades
  8. 8Sabbatai Zevi1626-1676 · Turkey · Religious Figures20 decades
  9. 9Pope Clement XI1649-1721 · Italy · Religious Figures22 decades
  10. 10Pope Innocent XI1611-1689 · Italy · Religious Figures22 decades
  11. 11Pope Clement IX1600-1669 · Italy · Religious Figures20 decades
  12. 12Pope Alexander VII1599-1667 · Italy · Religious Figures22 decades
  13. 13Patriarch Nikon of Moscow1605-1681 · Religious Figures22 decades
  14. 14Pope Innocent XIII1655-1724 · Italy · Religious Figures0 decades
  15. 15Pope Innocent X1574-1655 · Italy · Religious Figures3 decades
  16. 16François Fénelon1651-1715 · France · Religious Figures22 decades
  17. 17Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet1627-1704 · France · Religious Figures22 decades
  18. 18Margaret Mary Alacoque1647-1690 · France · Religious Figures18 decades
  19. 19Avvakum1620-1682 · Religious Figures5 decades
  20. 20Jean-Baptiste de La Salle1651-1719 · France · Religious Figuresnot measured-
  21. 21Pope Clement XII1652-1740 · Religious Figures2 decades
  22. 22Pope Innocent XII1615-1700 · Italy · Religious Figures8 decades
  23. 23Pope Alexander VIII1610-1691 · Italy · Religious Figures0 decades
  24. 24Pope Clement X1590-1676 · Italy · Religious Figures0 decades
  25. 25Jean Meslier1664-1729 · France · Religious Figures22 decades
Show 75 more

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.