With Date of Death (Sorted by Death Date Ascending)
1. Einhard
Writer | Charlemagne, le prince à cheval
Friend and Biographer of the Emperor of the Francs, Carolus Magnus.
2. Omar Khayyam
Born in a wealthy province of Seljuk-ruled Persia, Omar Khayyam was educated well as a youth and became fascinated by science, especially astronomy and mathematics. He built an observatory and created the Jalalaean Calender that was far more accurate than the Julian Calender in use by his European ...
3. Hildegard von Bingen
Soundtrack | Breath of God
Vision - Aus dem Leben der Hildegard von Bingen (2009) is a film about her.
4. Genghis Khan
In Benjamin Wiker's "10 Books that Screwed Up the World", Genghis Khan gets special mention for refraining from writing anything.
5. Jalaluddin Muhammad Rumi
Writer | The Interpreted Dream
Jalaluddin Rumi, Scholar in Religious Sciences and famed Sufi Mystic Poet, was born on September 29th 1207 A.D. in Balkh (modern day Afghanistan). Escaping Mongol invasions he travelled extensively to Muslim lands, Bagdad, Mecca, Damascus, Malatia (Turkey). Married Gevher Khatun of Samarquand and ...
7. Dante Alighieri
Writer | The Trophy Case: Judgement
Dante Alighieri was born in 1265 into the lower nobility of Florence, to Alighiero di Bellincione d'Alighiero, a moneylender. A precocious student, Dante's education focused on rhetoric and grammar. He also became enamored with a young girl, Beatrice Portinari, whose death in 1290 threw a grieving ...
8. Philippe de Vitry
Composer | Aranymadár
9. Giovanni Boccaccio
Writer | The Little Hours
Black Death (the bubonic plague) kills several of Boccaccio's family members and friends.
11. Geoffrey Chaucer
Writer | The Ribald Tales of Canterbury
Portrayed by Paul Bettany in A Knight's Tale (2001) starring Heath Ledger in the title role.
12. Joan of Arc
Writer | HBO First Look
Songs about her include: "Joan of Arc, They Are Calling You" co-written by Al Bryan; "Joan of Arc" by Leonard Cohen; "Joan of Arc" by Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall; "Joan of Arc" by Madonna, MoZella, Toby Gad, and Symbolyc One; and "Joan of Arc" and "Joan of Arc (Maid of Orléans)" by Andy ...
13. Johannes Gutenberg
Gutenberg was born between 1394 and 1404 in Hof Gutenberg, Mainz am Rhein, Germany. He invented print-technology and was the first and most popular inventor of the information-technology.
14. Thomas Malory
Writer | Excalibur
Born around 1414-1420 into an English gentry family, Sir Thomas Malory spent his first couple of decades in quiet obscurity, aside from campaigning at the Siege of Calais in 1436. By 1441 he had been knighted, and had developed a growing interest in politics. In 1445 he became MP for his county and...
15. Dieric Bouts
Art Department | Met Dieric Bouts
Flemish painter. His "Triptych of the Virgin" (1455), "Martyrdom of St. Erasmus" (1458), "Altarpiece of the Holy Sacrament" (1464-1467), and "The Justice of Emperor Otto III" diptych (1460), "Portrait of a Man" (1462), and "Resurrection" (1455) are considered masterpieces. "Resurrection" part of ...
16. Christopher Columbus
Self | Biography of the Millennium: 100 People - 1000 Years
Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in Genoa, Republic of Genoa. He died on May 20, 1506 in Valladolid, Crown of Castile.
17. Leonardo Da Vinci
Art Department | The Queen's Palaces
The archetypal "Renaissance Man," Leonardo da Vinci was one of the greatest scientific minds as well as one of the greatest visual artists the human race has ever produced. The illegitimate son of a wealthy Florentine notary, Piero da Vinci, and a peasant woman named Caterina, Leonardo was born in ...
18. Raphael
Art Department | Parajanov: The Last Spring
19. Josquin Desprez
Soundtrack | When Will I Be Loved
20. Niccolò Machiavelli
Writer | Monna Vanna
Born into a time of extreme political upheaveal, Niccolò Machiavelli was a member of the old Florentine nobility. He received a proper humanistic Renaissance education, and as a young man began the climb up the perilous political ladder of Italy. In 1502 he was sent to Romagna as an envoy to Cesare...
21. Albrecht Dürer
Art Department | Unser Sandmännchen
Known as a painter, printmaker, draughtsman, and art theorist.
22. Francesco Guicciardini
Writer | L'età di Cosimo de Medici
23. Agnolo Firenzuola
Writer | Neskolko lyubovnykh istoriy
24. Martin Luther
Soundtrack | Gangs of New York
Martin Luther was the founder of the Lutheran Church in the 16th Century. As a composer he also wrote such well known Christian hymns as "A Mighty Fortess Is Our God".
25. Henry VIII
Soundtrack | L'âge des ténèbres
Father of Queen Mary I, who has been played by Jeanne Delvair, Gwen Ffrangcon Davies, Yvette Pienne, Ann Tyrrell, Sheila Allen, Françoise Christophe, Nicola Pagett, Inge Keller, Jane Lapotaire, Lara Belmont, Sarah Bolger, Bláthnaid McKeown, Constance Stride, Miranda French, Daisy Ashford, Lily ...
26. Marguerite de Navarre
Writer | Hry lásky sálivé
27. Francois Rabelais
Writer | Kraft Television Theatre
French satirist. Author of "Gargantua and Pantagruel", the famous medieval epic satire about giants. To date, it has never been filmed or dramatized for television.
28. Ludovico Ariosto
Writer | The Madness of Roland
Alberto Savinio named his two children after two characters in Ariosto's poem "Orlando Furioso" (1516).
29. Pietro Aretino
Writer | Der Kaufmann von Venedig
30. Michelangelo Buonarotti
Art Department | Yksitoista ihmisen kuvaa
Michelangelo Buonarotti was born on March 6, 1475 in Caprese. He is known for his work on Yksitoista ihmisen kuvaa (2012) and Michelangelo (1963). He died on February 18, 1564 in Rome.
31. Antonio de Cabezón
Composer | Returns
32. Louise Labé
Writer | Plain-chant
33. Michel de Nostredame
Writer | Nosutoradamusu no daiyogen
An apothecary before he began to practice the occult, Michel de Nostredame spent the early part of his career battling outbreaks of the bubonic plague in southern France, and northern Italy. Historians attribute his higher-than-average survival rates to his then-radical practice of personal hygiene...
34. Marin Drzic
Writer | Probisvet
35. Pieter Bruegel
Pieter Bruegel is known for his work on The Pit and the Pendulum (1991), Five Revolutionary Painters (1959) and Human Nature: Creating It Comes at Night (2017). He died on September 9, 1569 in Brussels, Southern Netherlands.
36. Benvenuto Cellini
Writer | Una vita scellerata
37. Giorgio Vasari
Writer | Raphael Superstar
38. Hans Sachs
Writer | Aufruhr im Schlaraffenland
39. Titian
Art Department | The Queen's Palaces
When he was age 51, he married his mistress, who was gravely ill after giving birth to their second child, to legitimize their children before she died. She recovered, and they had two more children.
40. Luís Vaz de Camões
Writer | A Comédia de Deus
In his sonnets he talks about love, women and life.
41. Anton Francesco Grazzini
Writer | Neskolko lyubovnykh istoriy
42. Thomas Tallis
Soundtrack | Inspector Gadget
43. Michel de Montaigne
Writer | Un conte de Michel de Montaigne
44. Christopher Marlowe
Writer | Doctor Faustus
Born the son of a shoe-maker two months before the birth of another famous playwright, William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe achieved fame as an Elizabethan dramatist as well as an atheist. He was killed in a tavern brawl by a former friend, allegedly over a bill. There is now some evidence that...
45. Giovanni Palestrina
Soundtrack | The Reader
46. Orlando di Lasso
Music Department | The ginger and Fred
47. Torquato Tasso
Writer | La Gerusalemme liberata
48. Thoinot Arbeau
Soundtrack | The Wicker Man
49. Tycho Brahe
Tycho Brahe was born on December 14, 1546 in Knutstorp Castle, Scania, Denmark, Denmark-Norway as Tyge Ottesen Brahe. He died on October 24, 1601 in Prague, Habsburg Bohemia, Holy Roman Empire [now Czech Republic].
50. Emilio de' Cavalieri
Music Department | Le fils de Joseph