Famous 17th Century Spiritual & Religious Leaders

Murad IV, who ruled as the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1623 to 1640, was infamous for his cruelty. He took over the throne at 11 and subsequently came to be known for his exploits in the Ottoman–Safavid War, which changed the map of the Caucasus.

Osman II reigned as the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1618 until his regicide in 1622. Despite becoming the emperor at the young age of 14, Osman II sought to exercise his powers as a ruler. Renowned for his bravery, Osman II led the Ottoman campaign against Sigismund III, the King of Poland, during the Moldavian Magnate Wars. 

Guru Tegh Bahadur, the youngest son of Guru Hargobind Sahib, was the ninth Guru of the Sikhs. His 115 hymns find place in the Guru Granth Sahib. He tried to prevent forced conversion of Hindus and Sikhs into Islam, and was, as a result, executed by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.

Mustafa II was the Emperor of the Ottoman Empire from 6 February 1695 to 22 August 1703. As the Sultan of the empire, Mustafa II played important roles in the Great Turkish War and Habsburg Wars. He was succeeded by his brother Ahmed III in 1703.

Mustafa I reigned as the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire on two separate occasions; from 1617 to 1618 and again from 1622 to 1623. Nicknamed Mustafa the Mad, Mustafa I is believed to have suffered mental illness and was used as a puppet by his brother-in-law Kara Davud Pasha.

Louise Marie Therese was a French nun who lived in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. She has been mentioned in many different sources, some dubiously claiming that she was the daughter of the Queen of France, Maria Theresa of Spain. She was a black woman and a Benedictine nun in the abbey of Moret-sur-Loing. 

Born to a weaver, George Fox had little formal education and left home at 18, in pursuit of some religious experience. The English missionary later founded the Society of Friends, or Quakers, which is a Protestant branch. He was married to Margaret Fell, known widely as "the mother of Quakerism."

John Baptist de La Salle, also known as La Salle, is remembered as the founder of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, or the de La Salle Brothers. Apart from setting up charitable boarding schools, he also trained teachers. He is revered as the patron saint of school teachers and educators.

Pope Benedict XIII served as the ruler of the Papal States and head of the Catholic Church from 1724 to 1730. A man who was not interested in worldly matters, Benedict XIII chose to maintain a monastic lifestyle. He abolished the lottery in the Papal States and built several hospitals. He is also credited with founding the University of Camerino.

Suleiman II reigned as the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from November 1687 until his death in June 1691. He is credited with changing the fortunes of the Ottoman Empire along with Fazıl Mustafa Pasha during the War of the Holy League and reconquered Belgrade in 1690. Suleiman II is also credited with carrying out important fiscal and military reforms.

Born in Wales, to a Church of England cleric who had been ejected by the Act of Uniformity, Matthew Henry grew up to be a Nonconformist minister. He is best remembered for his iconic work Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, a six-volume commentary on the Bible.

Thomas Hooker was an English colonial leader. Hooker is credited with founding the Colony of Connecticut and is hence referred to as the Father of Connecticut. Thomas Hooker, who played a major role in the development of colonial New England, was one of the founders of the state of Connecticut as well as the city of Hartford.   

Also known as the "Se-baptist," or "self-baptizer," John Smyth is considered the pioneer of the Baptist faith in England. Initially a city preacher in Lincoln, he later joined a group of separatists who believed in believer’s baptism, as opposed to infant baptism, and thus formed the branch of Baptist Christianity.

Popé was a Tewa religious leader best remembered for leading the Pueblo Revolt against Spanish colonial rule in 1680. The revolt led by him was successful as the Pueblo managed to keep the colonists out of the territory for 12 years. In 2005, Popé was honored with a statue at the National Statuary Hall.

Seventeenth-century Franciscan Roman Catholic priest, missionary, and explorer Louis Hennepin was the first to sail through the Great Lakes up to Illinois and to pen a description about the region. Though captured by Sioux Indians, he was later rescued by a French explorer. He spent his final years in a monastery.

Joseph Justus Scaliger was a French Calvinist scholar and religious leader. His works on chronology were regarded as one of the most important contributions of Renaissance scholars. Joseph Justus Scaliger is best remembered for inflating the idea of classical history from ancient Roman and Greek history to include Babylonian, Persian, ancient Egyptian, and Jewish history. 

John Whitgift served as the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1583 until his death in 1604. Whitgift was also a teacher and is credited with teaching Francis Bacon and his brother Anthony Bacon in the 1570s. He is also credited with establishing charitable foundations like The Whitgift Foundation, which aims at providing care for the elderly and education for the young.

An outstanding scholar and a prolific writer, Jacob Israel Emden was a leading German Rabbi, mostly remembered for his fierce opposition to the Shabbatean movement and his bitter dispute with Rabbi Jonathan Eybeschütz. Also interested in secular works, he had 31 works to his credit, five of which were published posthumously.