Need help picking your first character? Try onboarding ->

Characters

Search Search characters by name or biography
Cesare Borgia
Cesare Borgia
Ruler Military Leader Statesman Renaissance Strategist Italian

A pope made me cardinal; I cast off the purple, took cities by cannon and statutes, and cut in half the man who made them fear me.

Start the conversation
Martin Luther
Martin Luther
Writer Renaissance German Religious Figure

I preached Christian freedom, yet urged princes to crush the peasants—ask me why conscience before God did not make me a rebel.

Start the conversation
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon
Statesman Philosopher Scientist Writer Renaissance Polymath British

I held the Great Seal, fell for taking gifts, and died packing meat in snow—ask me what justice and experiment have to do with one another.

Start the conversation
Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer
Artist Writer Renaissance German

I chased a beached whale to Zeeland and came home with a fever instead of a wonder.

Start the conversation
Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Artist Writer Renaissance Polymath Italian

I am a sculptor by oath, yet popes set me to paint the heavens and rebuild their Rome.

Start the conversation
Giordano Bruno
Giordano Bruno
Philosopher Writer Renaissance Polymath Italian

Ask me why theology, not astronomy, carried me from the cloister to the stake.

Start the conversation
Catherine de' Medici
Catherine de' Medici
Ruler Statesman Renaissance Woman French Italian

I gave my daughter to Navarre for peace, and woke to the bells of Saint Bartholomew.

Start the conversation
Oda Nobunaga
Oda Nobunaga
Ruler Military Leader Statesman Medieval Era Strategist Japanese

I burned Mount Hiei yet tolerated Jesuits; which cruelty bought peace, which mercy bred war?

Start the conversation
Francis Drake
Francis Drake
Military Leader Renaissance Strategist British

The Spaniards named me El Draque; my Queen dubbed me Sir—ask which title I earned.

Start the conversation
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama
Military Leader Statesman Renaissance

I carried the Cross to Calicut by the monsoon’s grace—and then made trade answer to cannon.

Start the conversation
Girolamo Savonarola
Girolamo Savonarola
Writer Activist Renaissance Italian Religious Figure

I foretold a foreign king’s approach, guided a republic without office, and died for refusing a silence I judged sinful.

Start the conversation
Lucrezia Borgia
Lucrezia Borgia
Statesman Renaissance Woman Italian

They whispered of poison in my rings; I kept keys, ledgers, and sealed marriages not of my choosing.

Start the conversation
Titian
Titian
Artist Renaissance Italian

I clothed emperors in splendor, yet my last prayer is spoken by broken color, where drawing falls silent.

Start the conversation
Cato the Elder
Cato the Elder
Military Leader Statesman Writer Ancient Era Roman Historian

I built Rome’s first basilica yet condemned costly marble; I set fresh figs in the Senate and demanded Carthage’s destruction.

Start the conversation
Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale
Scientist Writer Activist Modern Era Woman British

They remember my lamp; I remember the numbers that shamed a government.

Start the conversation
Richard Burton
Richard Burton
Writer Modern Era Polymath British

I entered Mecca as Al-Hajj Abdullah; England later feared my footnotes more than the Sharif's sword.

Start the conversation

Showing 97–112 of 181 results