Who Was Alive
Henry Purcell
anonymous, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Henry Purcell

English composer

Born 10 September 1659 · died 21 November 1695, aged 36

Who was alive at the same time as Henry Purcell?

  1. Thomas Hobbes, 1588 – 1679
  2. Diego Velázquez, 1599 – 1660
  3. Rembrandt, 1606 – 1669
  4. John Milton, 1608 – 1674
  5. Jean de La Fontaine, 1621 – 1695
  6. Molière, 1622 – 1673
  7. Blaise Pascal, 1623 – 1662
  8. Christiaan Huygens, 1629 – 1695
  9. John Locke, 1632 – 1704
  10. Baruch Spinoza, 1632 – 1677
  11. Louis XIV, 1638 – 1715
  12. Isaac Newton, 1642 – 1727
  13. Matsuo Bashō, 1644 – 1694
  14. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, 1646 – 1716
  15. Daniel Defoe, c. 1661 – 1731
  16. Henry Purcell, 1659 – 1695
  17. Jonathan Swift, 1667 – 1745
  18. Peter the Great, 1672 – 1725
  19. Antonio Vivaldi, 1678 – 1741
  20. George Frideric Handel, 1685 – 1759
  21. Johann Sebastian Bach, 1685 – 1750
  22. Alexander Pope, 1688 – 1744
  23. Montesquieu, 1689 – 1755
  24. Voltaire, 1694 – 1778

Drag across the timeline, or use the arrow keys, to see who was alive in any year and the age each person reached that year. Dashed lines mark world events. Faded ends mark uncertain dates.

When Henry Purcell was born, Isaac Newton was 16, Molière was 37, John Locke was 27, Rembrandt was 53 and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was 13.

When Henry Purcell died, Isaac Newton was 52, Johann Sebastian Bach was 10, Voltaire was 1, John Locke was 63 and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was 49.

Born during Henry Purcell’s lifetime: Johann Sebastian Bach, Voltaire, Peter the Great, Antonio Vivaldi, Jonathan Swift, Montesquieu, George Frideric Handel and Alexander Pope.

Not quite contemporaries: René Descartes died about 9 years before Henry Purcell was born, Benjamin Franklin was born about 11 years after Henry Purcell died, Carl Linnaeus was born about 12 years after Henry Purcell died and Leonhard Euler was born about 12 years after Henry Purcell died.

What happened in Henry Purcell’s lifetime

Where Henry Purcell’s contemporaries were born

Henry Purcell is labelled; the others are the best-known people we track who lived at the same time. Each dot is a birthplace from Wikidata (81 of 81 placed); tap one to open that person.
Birthplaces as a list

Compare Henry Purcell

The 132 best-known contemporaries

132 of the people we track were surely alive at the same time as Henry Purcell. All of them are listed here. See also everyone alive in 1677.

  1. Isaac Newton 1642 – 1727
  2. Johann Sebastian Bach 1685 – 1750
  3. Voltaire 1694 – 1778
  4. Molière 1622 – 1673
  5. John Locke 1632 – 1704
  6. Rembrandt 1606 – 1669
  7. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz 1646 – 1716
  8. Matsuo Bashō 1644 – 1694
  9. Blaise Pascal 1623 – 1662
  10. Louis XIV 1638 – 1715
  11. Peter the Great 1672 – 1725
  12. Baruch Spinoza 1632 – 1677
  13. Antonio Vivaldi 1678 – 1741
  14. Diego Velázquez 1599 – 1660
  15. Jonathan Swift 1667 – 1745
  16. Montesquieu 1689 – 1755
  17. Thomas Hobbes 1588 – 1679
  18. George Frideric Handel 1685 – 1759
  19. John Milton 1608 – 1674
  20. Jean de La Fontaine 1621 – 1695
  21. Daniel Defoe c. 1661 – 1731
  22. Alexander Pope 1688 – 1744
  23. Christiaan Huygens 1629 – 1695
  24. Jean Racine 1639 – 1699
  25. Johannes Vermeer 1632 – 1675
  26. Pierre de Fermat 1607 – 1665
  27. Robert Boyle 1627 – 1691
  28. George Berkeley 1685 – 1753
  29. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 1632 – 1723
  30. Pierre Corneille 1606 – 1684
  31. Charles Perrault 1628 – 1703
  32. Pedro Calderón de la Barca 1600 – 1681
  33. Abel Tasman 1603 – 1659
  34. Robert Hooke 1635 – 1703
  35. Shah Jahan 1592 – 1666
  36. Edmond Halley 1656 – 1742
  37. John Amos Comenius 1592 – 1670
  38. François de La Rochefoucauld 1613 – 1680
  39. Charles II of England 1630 – 1685
  40. John Dryden 1631 – 1700
  41. Aurangzeb 1618 – 1707
  42. Anne, Queen of Great Britain 1665 – 1714
  43. Nicolas Poussin 1594 – 1665
  44. Pope Benedict XIV 1675 – 1758
  45. William III of England 1650 – 1702
  46. Robert Walpole 1676 – 1745
  47. James II of England 1633 – 1701
  48. Joseph Addison 1672 – 1719
  49. George II of Great Britain 1683 – 1760
  50. Emanuel Swedenborg 1688 – 1772
  51. Christina, Queen of Sweden 1626 – 1689
  52. Christopher Wren 1632 – 1723
  53. Pope Clement XII 1652 – 1740
  54. Pope Innocent XI 1611 – 1689
  55. Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux 1636 – 1711
  56. George I of Great Britain 1660 – 1727
  57. John III Sobieski 1629 – 1696
  58. Vitus Bering 1681 – 1741
  59. Philip IV of Spain 1605 – 1665
  60. John Bunyan 1628 – 1688
  61. Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit 1686 – 1736
  62. Cardinal Mazarin 1602 – 1661
  63. Charles II of Spain 1661 – 1700
  64. Pope Clement XIII 1693 – 1769
  65. Francisco de Zurbarán c. 1598 – 1664
  66. Bartolomé Esteban Murillo 1617 – 1682
  67. Pope Benedict XIII 1649 – 1730
  68. Pope Clement X 1590 – 1676
  69. Gian Lorenzo Bernini 1598 – 1680
  70. Pope Alexander VII 1599 – 1667
  71. Pope Clement IX 1600 – 1669
  72. Pope Alexander VIII 1610 – 1691
  73. Pope Innocent XII 1615 – 1700
  74. Ole Rømer 1644 – 1710
  75. Pope Clement XI 1649 – 1721
  76. Pope Innocent XIII 1655 – 1724
  77. Mary II 1662 – 1694
  78. Giambattista Vico 1668 – 1744
  79. Charles XII of Sweden 1682 – 1718
  80. Philip V of Spain 1683 – 1746
  81. Catherine I of Russia 1684 – 1727
  82. Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor 1685 – 1740
  83. Giovanni Domenico Cassini 1625 – 1712
  84. Jean de La Bruyère 1645 – 1696
  85. Jacob Bernoulli c. 1655 – 1705
  86. Anna of Russia 1693 – 1740
  87. Aphra Behn 1640 – 1689
  88. Juana Inés de la Cruz 1651 – 1695
  89. Johann Bernoulli 1667 – 1748
  90. Georg Philipp Telemann 1681 – 1767
  91. Alexis of Russia 1629 – 1676
  92. Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor 1640 – 1705
  93. Mehmed IV 1642 – 1693
  94. Maria Sibylla Merian 1647 – 1717
  95. Pierre Bayle 1647 – 1706
  96. Suleiman II 1642 – 1691
  97. Ahmed III 1673 – 1736
  98. Guru Gobind Singh 1666 – 1708
  99. Shivaji 1627 – 1680
  100. François Fénelon 1651 – 1715
  101. Jean-Philippe Rameau 1683 – 1764
  102. Antoine Watteau 1684 – 1721
  103. Jean-Baptiste Lully 1632 – 1687
  104. Prince Eugene of Savoy 1663 – 1736
  105. Domenico Scarlatti 1685 – 1757
  106. Frans Hals 1580s – 1666
  107. Ivan Mazepa 1639 – 1709
  108. Mustafa II 1664 – 1703
  109. Ahmed II 1643 – 1695
  110. Blackbeard c. 1680 – 1718
  111. Jean-Baptiste Colbert 1619 – 1683
  112. William Penn 1644 – 1718
  113. Arcangelo Corelli 1653 – 1713
  114. Francesco Borromini 1599 – 1667
  115. Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle 1657 – 1757
  116. Ivan V of Russia 1666 – 1696
  117. Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor 1678 – 1711
  118. Vincent de Paul 1581 – 1660
  119. Otto von Guericke 1602 – 1686
  120. Johannes Hevelius 1611 – 1687
  121. Evliya Çelebi 1611 – 1682
  122. Kangxi Emperor 1654 – 1722
  123. Frederick I of Prussia 1657 – 1713
  124. Dieterich Buxtehude c. 1638 – 1707
  125. Antonio Stradivari c. 1644 – 1737
  126. Augustus II the Strong 1670 – 1733
  127. François Quesnay 1694 – 1774
  128. Feodor III of Russia 1661 – 1682
  129. Tomaso Albinoni 1671 – 1751
  130. Christian Wolff 1679 – 1754
  131. Pierre de Marivaux 1688 – 1763
  132. Frederick William I of Prussia 1688 – 1740