Who was alive at the same time as William Shakespeare?

English playwright and poet

William Shakespeare lived 1564–1616. Here are the famous people whose lives overlapped with theirs.

Lived: 1564–1616
Lifespan: about 52 years
Born in, as it was then: Stratford-upon-AvonKingdom of England
On today’s map: United Kingdom

Explore William Shakespeare’s world on the timeline →

Did you know?

When William Shakespeare was born, Elizabeth I was already about 31 years old.
William Shakespeare was about 32 when René Descartes was born.
William Shakespeare and Galileo Galilei (Italian polymath) shared about 52 years on Earth, one born in the Kingdom of England and the other in the Duchy of Florence.
Peter Paul Rubens outlived William Shakespeare by about 24 years.

Famous contemporaries of William Shakespeare

Rulers and commanders

Elizabeth I 1533–1603 · 39 yrs shared
Suleiman the Magnificent 1494–1566 · 2 yrs shared
Mary, Queen of Scots 1542–1587 · 23 yrs shared
Oliver Cromwell 1599–1658 · 17 yrs shared
Oda Nobunaga 1534–1582 · 18 yrs shared
Philip II of Spain 1527–1598 · 34 yrs shared

Philosophers and scientists

Galileo Galilei 1564–1642 · 52 yrs shared
René Descartes 1596–1650 · 20 yrs shared
Giordano Bruno 1547–1600 · 36 yrs shared
Thomas Hobbes 1588–1679 · 28 yrs shared
Johannes Kepler 1571–1630 · 45 yrs shared
Francis Bacon 1560–1626 · 52 yrs shared

Religion

Pope Gregory XIII 1501–1585 · 21 yrs shared

Writers and artists

Peter Paul Rubens 1577–1640 · 39 yrs shared
Caravaggio 1571–1610 · 39 yrs shared
Nostradamus 1503–1566 · 2 yrs shared
Titian c. 1490–1576 · 12 yrs shared
El Greco 1541–1614 · 50 yrs shared
Miguel de Cervantes c. 1547–1616 · 52 yrs shared

Explorers and others

Francis Drake c. 1540–1596 · 32 yrs shared
Catherine de' Medici 1519–1589 · 25 yrs shared
Elizabeth Báthory 1560–1614 · 50 yrs shared
Abel Tasman 1603–1659 · 13 yrs shared
Hugo Grotius 1583–1645 · 33 yrs shared

Born within five years of William Shakespeare

Galileo Galilei (1564) · Francis Bacon (1560) · Claudio Monteverdi (1567) · Elizabeth Báthory (1560) · Sigismund III Vasa (1566) · Christopher Marlowe (1564) · Lope de Vega (1562) · Date Masamune (1567)

About William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" or simply "the Bard". His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, 3 long narrative poems and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

More people

Elizabeth I · Henry VIII · Christopher Columbus · George Washington · George III · Marie Antoinette · Alexander Hamilton · Napoleon