Who Was Alive
Shen Kuo
Hans A. Rosbach, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Shen Kuo

Chinese physicist

Born 1031 · died 1095, aged 63 or 64
Also known as Shen Gua, Cunzhong, Weng

Who was alive at the same time as Shen Kuo?

  1. Ibn al-Haytham, c. AD 965 – 1039
  2. Stephen I of Hungary, c. AD 975 – 1038
  3. Pope John XIX, c. AD 975 – 1032
  4. Al-Biruni, AD 973 – 1048
  5. Avicenna, c. AD 981 – 1037
  6. Pope Nicholas II, 990s – 1061
  7. Cnut, AD 994 – 1035
  8. Pope Gregory VI, c. 1000 – 1048
  9. Pope Damasus II, c. 1000 – 1048
  10. Pope Leo IX, 1002 – 1054
  11. Pope Clement II, 1005 – 1047
  12. Pope Alexander II, 1010s – 1073
  13. Harold Godwinson, c. 1023 – 1066
  14. William the Conqueror, c. 1028 – 1087
  15. Shen Kuo, 1031 – 1095
  16. Anselm of Canterbury, c. 1033 – 1109
  17. Pope Urban II, c. 1035 – 1099
  18. Omar Khayyam, c. 1049 – 1131
  19. Pope Paschal II, 1050s – 1118
  20. Al-Ghazali, c. 1057 – 1111
  21. Pope Callixtus II, c. 1065 – 1124
  22. Henry I of England, c. 1068 – 1135
  23. Peter Abelard, 1079 – 1142
  24. Bernard of Clairvaux, c. 1091 – 1153

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 Shen Kuo was born, Al-Biruni was 57 or 58, Pope Leo IX was 28 or 29, Pope Clement II was 25 or 26, Alp Arslan was 1 or 2 and Henry I of France was 22 or 23.

When Shen Kuo died, Godfrey of Bouillon was 34 or 35, Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor was 44 or 45, Anna Komnene was 11 or 12, Louis VI of France was 13 or 14 and Philip I of France was 42 or 43.

Born during Shen Kuo’s lifetime: Omar Khayyam, Al-Ghazali, Peter Abelard, Pope Urban II, Bernard of Clairvaux, Henry I of England, Pope Callixtus II and Pope Paschal II.

Not quite contemporaries: Ferdowsi died about 8 years before Shen Kuo was born, Hildegard of Bingen was born months after Shen Kuo died, Leif Erikson died about 8 years before Shen Kuo was born and Muhammad al-Idrisi was born about 12 years after Shen Kuo died.

What happened in Shen Kuo’s lifetime

Where Shen Kuo’s contemporaries were born

Shen Kuo is labelled; the others are the best-known people we track who lived at the same time. Each dot is a birthplace from Wikidata (40 of 41 placed); tap one to open that person.
Birthplaces as a list

Compare Shen Kuo

The 40 best-known contemporaries

40 of the people we track were surely alive at the same time as Shen Kuo. All of them are listed here. See also everyone alive in 1064.

  1. Avicenna c. AD 981 – 1037
  2. Omar Khayyam c. 1049 – 1131
  3. Al-Ghazali c. 1057 – 1111
  4. William the Conqueror c. 1028 – 1087
  5. Al-Biruni AD 973 – 1048
  6. Ibn al-Haytham c. AD 965 – 1039
  7. Peter Abelard 1079 – 1142
  8. Pope Urban II c. 1035 – 1099
  9. Anselm of Canterbury c. 1033 – 1109
  10. Bernard of Clairvaux c. 1091 – 1153
  11. Henry I of England c. 1068 – 1135
  12. Cnut AD 994 – 1035
  13. Pope Leo IX 1002 – 1054
  14. Pope Alexander II 1010s – 1073
  15. Pope Callixtus II c. 1065 – 1124
  16. Harold Godwinson c. 1023 – 1066
  17. Pope Gregory VI c. 1000 – 1048
  18. Pope Clement II 1005 – 1047
  19. Pope Paschal II 1050s – 1118
  20. Stephen I of Hungary c. AD 975 – 1038
  21. Pope Nicholas II 990s – 1061
  22. Pope John XIX c. AD 975 – 1032
  23. Pope Damasus II c. 1000 – 1048
  24. Godfrey of Bouillon 1060 – 1100
  25. Alexios I Komnenos 1048 – 1118
  26. Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor 1050 – 1106
  27. Pope Victor III c. 1028 – 1087
  28. Pope Gelasius II c. 1065 – 1119
  29. Anna Komnene 1083 – c. 1154
  30. Pope Sylvester III c. 1000 – c. 1065
  31. Yaroslav the Wise AD 978 – 1054
  32. Alp Arslan 1029 – 1072
  33. Henry I of France 1008 – 1060
  34. Louis VI of France 1081 – 1137
  35. Philip I of France 1052 – 1108
  36. Al-Ma'arri AD 973 – 1057
  37. Guido of Arezzo c. AD 992 – 1050
  38. Abdul Qadir Gilani 1078 – 1166
  39. Anne of Kiev c. 1025 – 1070s
  40. Harald Hardrada c. 1015 – 1066