Writers of the Age of Exploration
The atlas holds 26 people and 507 moments here, from 1452 to 1650. The most recorded lives are René Descartes, Niccolò Machiavelli and John Milton.
Notable people
René Descartes
from 1596 to 1650
45 moments here
French philosopher, mathematician, and natural philosopher whose methodic doubt, mind-body distinction, analytic techniques, and mechanical account…
Niccolò Machiavelli
from 1469 to 1527
32 moments here
Florentine diplomat, civil servant, political theorist, playwright, and historian of the Italian Renaissance.…
John Milton
from 1608 to 1649
31 moments here
English poet, polemicist, and civil servant. This chronology follows documented residences, education, continental travel, marriages, public service,…
Giordano Bruno
from 1548 to 1600
31 moments here
Italian Renaissance philosopher, Dominican friar, writer, and cosmological theorist. Born at Nola, Bruno studied and lived in Italy, Switzerland,…
Michel de Montaigne
from 1533 to 1592
31 moments here
French Renaissance writer, magistrate, diplomat, and two-term mayor of Bordeaux, best known for the Essais.…
Hernán Cortés
from 1485 to 1547
30 moments here
Spanish conquistador, commander, explorer, governor, and writer whose 1519–1521 campaign against the Aztec Empire helped establish Spanish rule in…
Martin Luther
from 1483 to 1546
29 moments here
German Augustinian friar, priest, theologian, professor, translator, and leading figure of the Protestant Reformation.…
Michelangelo
from 1475 to 1564
29 moments here
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet.…
Miguel de Cervantes
from 1547 to 1616
28 moments here
Spanish novelist, playwright, poet, soldier, purchasing agent and tax collector, best known for Don Quixote.…
Leonardo da Vinci
from 1452 to 1519
27 moments here
Italian Renaissance painter, draftsman, engineer, architect, anatomist, and natural philosopher.…
Desiderius Erasmus
from 1466 to 1536
27 moments here
Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, theologian, editor, and author. Erasmus was born in the Burgundian Netherlands, educated in the Low…
Lope de Vega
from 1562 to 1635
24 moments here
Spanish playwright, poet, and novelist of the Spanish Golden Age. Born and died in Madrid, Lope de Vega studied in Madrid and Alcalá, served in naval…
Thomas More
from 1478 to 1535
22 moments here
English lawyer, humanist author, royal councillor, Speaker of the House of Commons, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and Lord Chancellor under…
John Calvin
from 1509 to 1564
17 moments here
French Protestant reformer, pastor, and author. Born in Noyon, he studied law in Bourges and spent formative periods in Paris and Basel before moving…
Johannes Kepler
from 1571 to 1630
16 moments here
German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher, and music theorist. Kepler’s documented life moved from Württemberg schooling…
William Shakespeare
from 1564 to 1616
15 moments here
English playwright, poet, actor, and theatrical shareholder. Surviving records place Shakespeare principally in Stratford-upon-Avon and London, with…
Nicolaus Copernicus
from 1473 to 1543
15 moments here
Renaissance astronomer, canon, physician, administrator, and economist whose heliocentric model placed the Sun rather than Earth at the center of the…
Francis Bacon
from 1561 to 1626
13 moments here
English philosopher, lawyer, statesman, Attorney General, and Lord Chancellor under James I.…
François Rabelais
from 1520 to 1553
11 moments here
French Renaissance writer, physician, humanist, and Catholic priest. His birth date is disputed, with scholarship placing it between 1483 and 1494;…
Blaise Pascal
from 1623 to 1648
9 moments here
French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic writer. Pascal spent his life principally between Clermont-Ferrand, Paris,…
Molière
from 1622 to 1650
7 moments here
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known as Molière, was a French playwright, actor, and theatrical manager.…
Thomas Hobbes
from 1588 to 1647
7 moments here
English philosopher and political theorist, best known for Leviathan (1651). Hobbes’s documented movements include study at Oxford, European travel…
Jean de La Fontaine
from 1621 to 1647
6 moments here
French fabulist, poet, dramatist, and author whose Fables became foundational works of French literature.…
John Locke
from 1632 to 1647
3 moments here
English philosopher, physician, and political writer. Locke was born in Somerset, educated in London and Oxford, served Lord Shaftesbury in London,…
Moments
- 1452 Born near Vinci Leonardo da Vinci
- 1466 Birth in Rotterdam Desiderius Erasmus
- 1469 Moves to Florence Leonardo da Vinci
- 1469 Birth in Florence Niccolò Machiavelli
- 1473 Birth in Toruń Nicolaus Copernicus
- 1475 Brought to Florence as an infant Michelangelo
- 1475 Born at Caprese Michelangelo
- 1476 Childhood move to Gouda Desiderius Erasmus
- 1478 Latin-school education in Deventer Desiderius Erasmus
- 1478 Witnesses a contract in Vinci Leonardo da Vinci
- 1478 Birth in the City of London Thomas More
- 1481 Lives with a stonecutter at Settignano Michelangelo
- 1482 Moves to the Sforza court Leonardo da Vinci
- 1483 Born in Eisleben Martin Luther
- 1484 Seminary schooling in 's-Hertogenbosch Desiderius Erasmus
- 1484 Family relocates to Mansfeld Martin Luther
- 1485 Birth in Medellín Hernán Cortés
- 1487 Novitiate at Stein Desiderius Erasmus
- 1488 Profession of vows at Stein Desiderius Erasmus
- 1490 Lives in the Medici household Michelangelo
- 1490 Consults at Pavia Cathedral Leonardo da Vinci
- 1491 Studies at the University of Kraków Nicolaus Copernicus
- 1492 Studies at Oxford Thomas More
- 1493 Departure from Stein for Brabant Desiderius Erasmus
- 1493 Hosted at Santo Spirito Michelangelo
- 1494 Brief stay in Venice Michelangelo
- 1494 Takes refuge in Bologna Michelangelo
- 1494 Legal training at New Inn Thomas More
- 1495 Theological study in Paris Desiderius Erasmus
- 1495 Paints The Last Supper Leonardo da Vinci
- 1496 Arrival for studies in Bologna Nicolaus Copernicus
- 1496 Student at Lincoln's Inn Thomas More
- 1496 Arrives in Rome Michelangelo
- 1497 Attends school in Magdeburg Martin Luther
- 1497 Aldebaran occultation observation Nicolaus Copernicus
- 1498 Moves to Eisenach for school Martin Luther
- 1498 First diplomatic mission Niccolò Machiavelli
- 1499 First English visit at Oxford Desiderius Erasmus
- 1499 Mission to Caterina Sforza Niccolò Machiavelli
- 1500 Flees to Venice Leonardo da Vinci
- 1500 Returns to Florence Leonardo da Vinci
- 1500 Jubilee-year stay in Rome Nicolaus Copernicus
- 1500 Stays in Bologna Leonardo da Vinci
- 1500 First French mission Niccolò Machiavelli
- 1501 Writing at Saint-Bertin Abbey Desiderius Erasmus
- 1501 Returns from Rome to Florence Michelangelo
- 1501 Medical studies in Padua Nicolaus Copernicus
- 1501 Pacification mission Niccolò Machiavelli
- 1501 Matriculates at Erfurt Martin Luther
- 1502 Move to Louvain Desiderius Erasmus