History Hot 100 results: the historical figures who fascinated you most in 2017

We asked readers and historians to vote for the historical figures that most interest them at the moment. The results are in: this is the History Hot 100 for 2017

Illustrations: Andy Tuohy / Design: Rachel Dickens

August 17, 2017 at 1:01 pm

This article was first published in the September 2017 issue of BBC History Magazine

Welcome to this year’s BBC History Magazine Hot 100 list, featuring the historical figures that have been fascinating you in 2017. We asked you to each nominate up to three people, who could have lived in any historical period (but who died more than 30 years ago). The full list is presented here, along with comments on the results from historians. The characters and rankings are bound to provoke controversy…

_{(*denotes new entry in 2017)}

100 Isambard Kingdom Brunel  1806–59*

British civil and mechanical engineer

99 Francis Drake  c1540–1596*

English admiral and navigator

98 Christopher Columbus  c1451–1506*

Italian explorer and navigator

97 Catherine Howard  c1524–42*

Fifth wife of Henry VIII

96 Anne Neville  1456–85

Queen consort of Richard III

95 Simon de Montfort  c1208–65*

Rebel baron

94 Nikola Tesla  1856–1943*

Serbian-American inventor

93 Isabella of France  1295–1358*

Queen consort of Edward II

92 Margaret Tudor  1489–1541*

Daughter of Henry VII, sister of Henry VIII

91 King Arthur  possibly sixth century*

Legendary British warrior and king

90 Cecily Neville  1415–95*

Mother of Edward IV and Richard III

89 Richard I  1157–99

English king, known as ‘the Lionheart’

88 Thomas More  1478–1535

Tudor statesman and author

87 Thomas Jefferson  1743–1826

Founding Father and third US president

86 Marie Curie  1867–1934 *

Polish-French physicist and chemist

85 Hatshepsut  c1507 BC–c1458 BC*

One of only a few known ancient Egyptian female pharaohs, Hatshepsut reigned in her own right, from c1473–58 BC. However, Hatshepsut’s royal reign really began in c1479 BC when she acted as regent for her infant stepson, Thutmose III. By the end of his seventh regnal year, Hatshepsut had been crowned king and had adopted all pharaonic titles and regalia, co-ruling with her stepson. In images, she was depicted with a male body wearing the traditional pharaonic kilt, crown and false beard. New entry in 2017

84 Harold II  c1022–1066

 England’s last Anglo-Saxon king

83 Catherine de Medici  1519–89*

Italian noblewoman and queen of France

82 Bess of Hardwick  1527–1608*

Elizabethan noblewoman

81 Anne Frank  1929–45*

German-born Jewish diarist

80 Muhammad  c570–632

Prophet and founder of Islam

79 John of Gaunt  1340–99*

Third surviving son of Edward III

78 Isabella I of Castile  1451–1504*

Queen of Castile and Aragon

77 George Washington  1732–99*

Founding father and first US president

76 Anne of Cleves  1515–57

German-born fourth wife of Henry VIII

75 Florence Nightingale  1820–1910 *

Founder of modern nursing

74 Owain Glyndwr  c1350–c1416*

Welsh ruler and rebel

73 Marie Antoinette  1755–93*

Austrian-born queen of France

72 Katherine Parr  1512–48

Sixth and last wife of Henry VIII

71 Vlad the Impaler  1431–76*

Prince of Wallachia, Romania

70 Leonardo da Vinci  1452–1519

Italian Renaissance polymath

69 Edward III  1312–77*

King of England

68 Charles I  1600–49

King of England, Scotland and Ireland

67 Charles Dickens  1812–70 *

British writer and social critic

66 Katherine Swynford  1350–1403

Third wife of John of Gaunt

65 Albert Einstein  1879–1955

German-born theoretical physicist

64 Cleopatra  69 BC–30 BC*

Last active pharaoh of ancient Egypt

63 Alan Turing  1912–54*

Computer scientist and cryptanalyst

62 Tsar Nicholas II  1868–1918

Last emperor of Russia

61 Lady Jane Grey  1537–54

Queen of England for nine days

60 Joseph Goebbels  1897–1945*

Propaganda minister for Nazi Germany

59 Franklin D Roosevelt  1882–1945

32nd US president

58 Charles Darwin  1809–82

British naturalist, geologist and biologist

57 King John  1166/67–1216

King of England who sealed Magna Carta

56 Clement Attlee  1883–1967

British prime minister

55 Alexander Hamilton  c1755/57–1804

Alexander Hamilton came to the attention of George Washington during the American Revolutionary War, becoming the general’s aide-de-camp. After training as a lawyer, he was elected to the lower house of the New York legislature and eventually earned himself a place at the Constitutional Convention as representative for New York. Hamilton was consequently one of the founding fathers of the US Constitution, and had a profound influence on its ratification. When Washington was elected to the presidency, he appointed Hamilton the country’s first secretary of the treasury.  Down 40 places from 2016

54 1st Duke of Wellington  1769–1852

British prime minister and military leader

53 Henry V  1387–1422

King of England and victor at Agincourt

52 Francisco Franco  1892–1975*

Military dictator of Spain

51 Æthelflæd  c870–918*

Anglo-Saxon ruler of Mercia

50 Mahatma Gandhi  1869–1948

Born to a wealthy Hindu family in north-west India, Gandhi’s first experiences of nonviolent civil disobedience came while he was practising law in South Africa, in response to the Indian community’s struggle for civil rights. In around 1921 he became leader of the Indian National Congress, leading campaigns for a number of social causes and to end British rule in India. One of his most famous protests was the 240-mile Dandi Salt March of 1930, challenging the British-imposed salt tax. Gandhi was assassinated in 1948.  Non-mover from 2016

49 Catherine the Great  1729–96

The daughter of a minor German prince, Catherine (born Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst) became a member of Russian royalty following her marriage to Grand Duke Peter, heir to the Russian throne. Catherine overthrew her husband shortly after he became tsar in 1762, and was declared empress, a title she would hold for more than 30 years. Expanding the empire was her priority: territories gained during her reign include Crimea, Belarus and Lithuania. She was also a great patron of the arts and education.  Down 19 places from 2016

48 Charles II  1630–85

King of England, Scotland and Ireland

47 Louis XIV  1638–1715

French monarch, known as the Sun King

46 Karl Marx  1818–83

German philosopher and political theorist

45 Edward I  1239–1307*

King of England

44 Augustus  63 BC–14 AD*

Considered the first Roman emperor

43 Julius Caesar  100 BC–44 BC

Roman ruler, general and statesman

42 John F Kennedy  1917–63

35th US president

41 Genghis Khan  1162–1227*

Founder of the Mongol empire

40 Isaac Newton  1643–1727

Mathematician, astronomer and physicist

39 Henry II  1133–89

First Plantagenet king of England

38 Oswald Mosley  1896–1980*

Leader of the British Union of Fascists

37 Vladimir Lenin  1870–1924*

Russian communist revolutionary

36 Joan of Arc  1412–31

French martyr, saint and military leader

35 Martin Luther King  1929–68

Religious activist and civil rights leader

34 Jane Austen  1775–1817*

This year sees the 200th anniversary of both Jane Austen’s death and the publication of two of her novels: Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. Austen’s first known writings date from c1787, with Sense and Sensibility the earliest of her novels to be published in her lifetime, in 1795. Austen, who never married, is celebrated as one of England’s favourite authors: her six novels – all published anonymously at first – are a window into the life of the landed gentry in the 18th and 19th centuries. She is believed to have died of Addison’s disease, an endocrine disorder. New entry in 2017

33 Empress Matilda  1102–67

Claimant to the English throne

32 Catherine of Aragon  1485–1536

Spanish-born first wife of Henry VIII

31 William the Conqueror  c1028–87

First Norman king of England

30 Abraham Lincoln  1809–65

16th US president and opponent of slavery

29 Josef Stalin  1878–1953

Soviet revolutionary and dictator

28 Boudica  c30–60

Ancient British queen of the Iceni tribe

27 Alexander the Great  356 BC–323 BC

King of Macedonia

26 Mary I  1516–58

England’s first queen regnant

25 Horatio Nelson  1758–1805

British naval commander

24 Edward IV  1442–83

First Yorkist king of England

23 Emmeline Pankhurst  1858–1928

British suffragist and political activist

22 Thomas Cromwell  1485–1540

Born the son of a Putney brewer, Cromwell’s big break came when he landed a job working for Cardinal Wolsey, Henry VIII’s powerful first minister. When Wolsey fell from grace after failing to gain papal permission to annul Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Cromwell advised Henry to break with Rome and make himself head of the Church of England, allowing the king to marry Anne Boleyn. Cromwell soon became Henry’s right-hand man but ended up on the scaffold having arranged the king’s disastrous marriage to Anne of Cleves.  Down 14 places from 2016

21 Oliver Cromwell  1599–1658

English soldier and statesman

20 Napoleon Bonaparte  1769–1821

French military and political leader

19 Martin Luther  1483–1546

On 31 October 1517, after witnessing corruption in the Catholic church, German theologian Martin Luther supposedly nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Castle church. In them, he condemned the practice of selling ‘indulgences’ to absolve sin and stated that salvation could be reached by faith, not deeds. Luther was condemned by the Catholic church but his work sparked the Protestant Reformation.  Up 36 places from 2016

18 Margaret Beaufort  1443–1509

Mother of King Henry VII

17 Elizabeth of York  1466–1503

Queen consort of Henry VII

16 Elizabeth Woodville  1437–92

Queen consort of Edward IV

15 Jesus Christ  c6-4 BC–30 AD

Religious leader central to Christianity

14 William Marshal  c1146/47–1219

Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman

13 Benito Mussolini  1883–1945

Italian Fascist dictator

12 Henry VII  1457–1509

First Tudor king of England

11 Mary, Queen of Scots  1542–87

Scottish queen and French queen consort

10 Henry VIII  1491–1547

 King of England

9 William Shakespeare  1564–1616

English poet, playwright and actor

8 Queen Victoria  1819–1901

British queen and empress of India

7 Adolf Hitler  1889–1945

Dictator of Nazi Germany

6 Winston Churchill  1874–1965

British wartime prime minister

5 Anne Boleyn  c1501–36

Anne spent much of her childhood at the French court, returning to England in 1522 where she proceeded to dazzle Henry VIII. By 1533, Anne was pregnant with the king’s child and the pair were secretly married. In 1534, Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon was finally annulled and Anne was crowned queen. But a series of failed pregnancies combined with accusations of adultery saw Anne sent to the scaffold in 1536.  Down 1 place from 2016

4 Elizabeth I  1533–1603

 Queen of England

 3 Alfred the Great 849–899

 King of Wessex

2 Eleanor of Aquitaine  c1122–1204

Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, became one of the most powerful women in Europe when she married Louis, heir  to Louis VI of France in late July 1137. The French king died the following month and Eleanor became queen of France, a title she would hold for 15 years. An unsuccessful crusade to the Holy Land in 1147–49, combined with Eleanor’s perceived failure to provide Louis with a son, soured the relationship and the couple divorced in 1152. Her second marriage to the future Henry II saw her become queen of England and, later, mother to the future Richard I.  Up 5 places from 2016

Holding on to the top spot…

1 Richard III  1452–85

Interest in the Yorkist king reached fever pitch in 2012 when his remains were found beneath a Leicester car park.

Mystery still surrounds Richard, not least whether he was responsible for the deaths of his nephews – Edward V and his younger brother, Richard – who mysteriously disappeared from the Tower of London in the summer of 1483.

Richard III’s death at the battle of Bosworth heralded the dawn of the Tudor dynasty as Henry Tudor took the throne of England, marrying Richard’s niece, Elizabeth of York. Five monarchs would sit on the throne for more than a century of Tudor rule. Richard III, meanwhile, still continues to divide opinion.

What did the experts say? Click here to read the verdict of 12 leading historians

Want to find out how the list compares to 2016? Read more here…