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Reference.org
Old French
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<p>Old French was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th and mid-14th centuries. Rather than a unified <a href="/facts/Dialect/gJ7uQQoj">language</a>, Old French was a <a href="/facts/Dialect_cluster/0QAuqxp3">group</a> of <a href="/facts/Romance_languages/TMK4KHI3">Romance</a> <a href="/facts/Dialect/gJ7uQQoj">dialects</a>, <a href="/facts/Mutual_intelligibility/h1SbX0wN">mutually intelligible</a> yet <a href="/facts/Dialect_continuum/0QAuqxp3">diverse</a>. These dialects came to be collectively known as the <i><a href="/facts/Langues_d%2527o%25C3%25AFl/fsgX2IRM">langues d'oïl</a></i>, contrasting with the <i>langues <a href="/facts/Occitan_language/w0etTc3w">d'oc</a></i>, the emerging <a href="/facts/Occitano-Romance_languages/UDKmvhIP">Occitano-Romance languages</a> of <a href="/facts/Occitania/4gDvAzd0">Occitania</a>, now the south of France. </p><p>The mid-14th century witnessed the emergence of <a href="/facts/Middle_French/n07t1XrU">Middle French</a>, the language of the <a href="/facts/French_Renaissance/mM9bHqGX">French Renaissance</a> in the <a href="/facts/%25C3%258Ele-de-France/CS20j02Y">Île-de-France</a> region; this dialect was a predecessor to <a href="/facts/French_language/qe1DnaQh">Modern French</a>. Other dialects of Old French evolved themselves into modern forms (<a href="/facts/Poitevin-Saintongeais/lGBmgtVL">Poitevin-Saintongeais</a>, <a href="/facts/Gallo_language/1K2ch2RQ">Gallo</a>, <a href="/facts/Norman_language/13RATD7c">Norman</a>, <a href="/facts/Picard_language/1RkE2uRx">Picard</a>, <a href="/facts/Walloon_language/Tdp6gx6D">Walloon</a>, etc.), each with its linguistic features and history. </p><p>The region where Old French was spoken natively roughly extended to the northern half of the <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_France/Ul6rT7cQ">Kingdom of France</a> and its vassals (including parts of the <a href="/facts/Angevin_Empire/D7X4g1cY">Angevin Empire</a>), and the duchies of <a href="/facts/Upper_Lorraine/5paE5VBE">Upper</a> and <a href="/facts/Lower_Lorraine/smKsoggx">Lower Lorraine</a> to the east (corresponding to modern north-eastern <a href="/facts/France/CxIeIKM3">France</a> and Belgian <a href="/facts/Wallonia/rXg1nkTV">Wallonia</a>), but the influence of Old French was much wider, as it was carried to <a href="/facts/Norman_England/d9b0YxRl">England</a> and the <a href="/facts/Crusader_states/xCooE9pA">Crusader states</a> as the language of a feudal elite and commerce. </p>