Who Was Alive
Thomas à Kempis
Rijksmuseum, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Thomas à Kempis

German canon

Born 1377–1383 · died 25 July 1471
Also known as Hämerkin, Thomas Hämerken, Hämmerlein

Who was alive at the same time as Thomas à Kempis?

  1. Hafez, c. 1325 – c. 1390
  2. Ibn Khaldun, c. 1332 – c. 1406
  3. Timur, 1336 – 1405
  4. Geoffrey Chaucer, c. 1343 – c. 1400
  5. Jan Hus, c. 1375 – 1415
  6. Zheng He, 1371 – c. 1435
  7. Thomas à Kempis, c. 1381 – 1471
  8. Donatello, c. 1386 – 1466
  9. Johannes Gutenberg, c. 1400 – 1468
  10. Joan of Arc, c. 1412 – 1431
  11. Pope Alexander VI, c. 1431 – 1503
  12. François Villon, 1431 – 1463
  13. Mehmed II, 1432 – 1481
  14. Sandro Botticelli, c. 1445 – 1510
  15. Pope Julius II, 1443 – 1513
  16. Christopher Columbus, 1451 – 1506
  17. Isabella I of Castile, 1451 – 1504
  18. Leonardo da Vinci, 1452 – 1519
  19. Amerigo Vespucci, 1454 – 1512
  20. Vasco da Gama, c. 1464 – 1524
  21. Erasmus, 1466 – 1536
  22. Guru Nanak, 1469 – 1539
  23. Niccolò Machiavelli, 1469 – 1527
  24. Albrecht Dürer, 1471 – 1528

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 Thomas à Kempis died, Leonardo da Vinci was 19, Christopher Columbus was 19 or 20, Niccolò Machiavelli was 2, Albrecht Dürer was under a year old and Erasmus was 4.

Born during Thomas à Kempis’s lifetime: Leonardo da Vinci, Christopher Columbus, Niccolò Machiavelli, Joan of Arc, Albrecht Dürer, Vasco da Gama, Johannes Gutenberg and Erasmus.

Not quite contemporaries: Michelangelo was born about 4 years after Thomas à Kempis died, Martin Luther was born about 12 years after Thomas à Kempis died, Nicolaus Copernicus was born about 2 years after Thomas à Kempis died and Ferdinand Magellan was born about 7 years after Thomas à Kempis died.

What happened in Thomas à Kempis’s lifetime

Where Thomas à Kempis’s contemporaries were born

Thomas à Kempis is labelled; the others are the best-known people we track who lived at the same time. Each dot is a birthplace from Wikidata (79 of 81 placed); tap one to open that person.
Birthplaces as a list

Compare Thomas à Kempis

The 111 best-known contemporaries

111 of the people we track were surely alive at the same time as Thomas à Kempis. All of them are listed here. See also everyone alive in 1427.

  1. Leonardo da Vinci 1452 – 1519
  2. Christopher Columbus 1451 – 1506
  3. Niccolò Machiavelli 1469 – 1527
  4. Joan of Arc c. 1412 – 1431
  5. Albrecht Dürer 1471 – 1528
  6. Vasco da Gama c. 1464 – 1524
  7. Johannes Gutenberg c. 1400 – 1468
  8. Geoffrey Chaucer c. 1343 – c. 1400
  9. Ibn Khaldun c. 1332 – c. 1406
  10. Hafez c. 1325 – c. 1390
  11. Timur 1336 – 1405
  12. Erasmus 1466 – 1536
  13. Zheng He 1371 – c. 1435
  14. Mehmed II 1432 – 1481
  15. Sandro Botticelli c. 1445 – 1510
  16. Amerigo Vespucci 1454 – 1512
  17. Donatello c. 1386 – 1466
  18. Guru Nanak 1469 – 1539
  19. Jan Hus c. 1375 – 1415
  20. Pope Alexander VI c. 1431 – 1503
  21. Isabella I of Castile 1451 – 1504
  22. François Villon 1431 – 1463
  23. Pope Julius II 1443 – 1513
  24. Hieronymus Bosch c. 1450 – 1516
  25. Pope Paul III 1468 – 1549
  26. Vlad the Impaler c. 1430 – c. 1477
  27. Pope Pius II 1405 – 1464
  28. Ferdinand II of Aragon 1452 – 1516
  29. Selim I 1470 – 1520
  30. Leon Battista Alberti 1404 – 1472
  31. Richard III of England 1452 – 1485
  32. Pope Adrian VI 1459 – 1523
  33. Pope Callixtus III 1379 – 1458
  34. Henry V of England 1386 – 1422
  35. Jan van Eyck c. 1390 – 1441
  36. Jami 1414 – 1492
  37. Lorenzo de' Medici 1449 – 1492
  38. Girolamo Savonarola 1452 – 1498
  39. Bayezid I c. 1354 – 1403
  40. Pope Eugene IV 1383 – 1447
  41. Pope Nicholas V c. 1397 – 1455
  42. Louis XI 1423 – 1483
  43. John Wycliffe 1320s – 1384
  44. Skanderbeg 1405 – 1468
  45. Pope Sixtus IV 1414 – 1484
  46. Henry VII of England 1457 – 1509
  47. Nicholas of Cusa 1401 – 1464
  48. Pope Innocent VIII 1432 – 1492
  49. Pope Paul II 1417 – 1471
  50. Bartolomeu Dias c. 1467 – 1500
  51. Pedro Álvares Cabral 1467 – c. 1520
  52. Pope Martin V c. 1369 – 1431
  53. Murad II 1404 – 1451
  54. Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor 1459 – 1519
  55. Louis XII 1462 – 1515
  56. Christine de Pizan 1364 – 1430
  57. Charles VI of France 1368 – 1422
  58. Masaccio 1401 – 1428
  59. Pope Pius III 1439 – 1503
  60. Ulugh Beg 1394 – 1449
  61. Bayezid II 1447 – 1512
  62. Charles VII of France 1403 – 1461
  63. Murad I 1326 – 1389
  64. Fra Angelico c. 1396 – 1455
  65. Sejong the Great 1397 – 1450
  66. Edward IV 1442 – 1483
  67. Giovanni Pico della Mirandola 1463 – 1494
  68. Charles VIII of France 1470 – 1498
  69. Pope Urban VI c. 1318 – 1389
  70. Pope Gregory XII c. 1335 – 1417
  71. Władysław II Jagiełło 1362 – 1434
  72. Constantine XI Palaiologos 1404 – 1453
  73. Henry VI of England 1421 – 1471
  74. Donato Bramante 1444 – 1514
  75. Richard II of England 1367 – c. 1400
  76. Pope Innocent VII c. 1338 – 1406
  77. Henry IV of England 1367 – 1413
  78. Mehmed I 1386 – 1421
  79. Pope Boniface IX 1356 – 1404
  80. Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor 1368 – 1437
  81. Giovanni Bellini c. 1430 – 1516
  82. Matthias Corvinus 1443 – 1490
  83. Domenico Ghirlandaio 1448 – 1494
  84. Marsilio Ficino 1433 – 1499
  85. Ivan III of Russia 1440 – 1505
  86. Andrei Rublev 1360s – 1430
  87. Andrea Mantegna 1431 – 1506
  88. Luca Pacioli 1440s – 1517
  89. Ali-Shir Nava'i 1441 – 1501
  90. John Cabot c. 1450 – c. 1498
  91. Filippo Brunelleschi 1377 – 1446
  92. Afonso de Albuquerque 1453 – 1515
  93. Hongwu Emperor 1328 – 1398
  94. Piero della Francesca 1415 – 1492
  95. Moctezuma II 1466 – 1520
  96. Prince Henry the Navigator 1394 – 1460
  97. Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor 1415 – 1493
  98. Andrea del Verrocchio c. 1435 – 1488
  99. Charles the Bold 1433 – 1477
  100. Pietro Perugino 1448 – 1523
  101. Zeami Motokiyo c. 1363 – 1443
  102. Margaret I of Denmark 1353 – 1412
  103. Juan Ponce de León 1460 – 1521
  104. Manuel I of Portugal 1469 – 1521
  105. James I of Scotland 1394 – 1437
  106. Manuel II Palaiologos 1350 – 1425
  107. Dmitry Donskoy 1350 – 1389
  108. Cosimo de' Medici 1389 – 1464
  109. Rogier van der Weyden c. 1396 – 1464
  110. Christian I of Denmark 1426 – 1481
  111. Lorenzo Valla 1407 – 1457