159-481: The Cross of Burgundy ( French : Croix de Bourgogne ; Spanish : Cruz de Borgoña/Aspa de Borgoña ; German : Burgunderkreuz ; Italian : Croce di Borgogna ; Catalan : Creu de Borgonya ; Dutch : Bourgondisch kruis ; Portuguese : Cruz de Borgonha ) is a saw-toothed ( raguly ) form of the Cross of Saint Andrew , the patron saint of Burgundy , and a historical banner and battle flag used by holders of
318-659: A polyglot . While Philip was also an archduke of Austria , he was seen as a foreigner in the Holy Roman Empire . The feeling was mutual. Philip felt himself to be culturally Spanish; he had been born in Castile and raised in the Castilian court, his native language was Spanish, and he preferred to live in the Spanish kingdoms. This ultimately impeded his succession to the imperial throne. In April 1528, when Philip
477-744: A French official to teachers in the department of Finistère , in western Brittany, included the following: "And remember, Gents: you were given your position in order to kill the Breton language". The prefect of Basses-Pyrénées in the French Basque Country wrote in 1846: "Our schools in the Basque Country are particularly meant to replace the Basque language with French..." Students were taught that their ancestral languages were inferior and they should be ashamed of them; this process
636-512: A bronze statue of himself trampling the rebellious Dutch under his horse's hooves, cast from the melted-down cannon looted by the Spanish troops after the Battle of Jemmingen in 1568; it was modelled on medieval images of the Spanish patron Saint James "the Moorslayer" riding down Muslims and caused such outrage that Philip had it removed and destroyed. In 1572, a prominent exiled member of
795-711: A combination of Catholic fervour and dynastic objectives. He considered himself the chief defender of Catholic Europe, both against the Ottoman Empire and against the forces of the Protestant Reformation . He never relented from his fight against heresy , defending the Catholic faith and limiting freedom of worship within his territories. These territories included his patrimony in the Netherlands, where Protestantism had taken deep root. Following
954-431: A comprehensive academic study entitled "The World's 10 most influential languages". In the article, Weber ranked French as, after English, the second-most influential language of the world, ahead of Spanish. His criteria were the numbers of native speakers, the number of secondary speakers (especially high for French among fellow world languages), the number of countries using the language and their respective populations,
1113-471: A consequence of executions, brawls, violent encounters with indigenous peoples and diseases which were rife. A contributing cause for failure of the settlement may have been poor morale, an issue that plagued the venture almost from the beginning. This can in part be explained by a series of difficulties the expedition had to go through between the departure from Spain and the arrival to the strait. Philip II's inaction despite repeated pleas by Sarmiento to aid
1272-623: A decisive victory against the Turks at Lepanto in 1571, with the allied fleet of the Holy League , which he had put under the command of his illegitimate brother, John of Austria . He also successfully secured his succession to the throne of Portugal . The administration of overseas conquests was reformed. Extensive questionnaires were distributed to every major town and region in New Spain called relaciones geográficas . These surveys helped
1431-654: A dynastic crisis. The Spanish conquests of the Inca Empire and of the Philippines , named in his honor by Ruy López de Villalobos , were completed during his reign. Under Philip II, Spain reached the height of its influence and power, sometimes called the Spanish Golden Age , and ruled territories in every continent then known to Europeans. Philip led a highly debt-leveraged regime , seeing state defaults in 1557, 1560, 1569, 1575, and 1596. This policy
1590-555: A foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050. French is the fastest growing language on the continent (in terms of either official or foreign languages). French is increasingly being spoken as a native language in Francophone Africa, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and
1749-784: A global powerhouse across the world, numerous flags and coats of arms of bodies, in various colours and in combination with other symbols can be found in old Spanish domains. Most of them have a direct link with the Spanish Empire , where this symbol had a global impact. During the Spanish colonisation of the Americas the Cross of Burgundy served as the flag of the Viceroyalties of the New World ( Bandera de Ultramar ) and as
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#17327755664771908-537: A medieval king. He mainly directed state affairs, even when not at Court. Indeed, when his health began failing, he worked from his quarters at the Palace-Monastery-Pantheon of El Escorial that he had built in 1584, a palace built as a monument to Spain's role as a center of the Christian world. But Philip did not enjoy the supremacy that King Louis XIV of France would in the next century, nor
2067-705: A period of prosperity and prominence among European nations. Richelieu established the Académie française to protect the French language. By the early 1800s, Parisian French had become the primary language of the aristocracy in France. Near the beginning of the 19th century, the French government began to pursue policies with the end goal of eradicating the many minorities and regional languages ( patois ) spoken in France. This began in 1794 with Henri Grégoire 's "Report on
2226-767: A permanent reversal in the balance of naval power in the Mediterranean and the end of the threat of Ottoman control. In 1585 a peace treaty was signed with the Ottomans. During Philip's reign Spain considered the Pacific Ocean a mare clausum —a sea closed to other naval powers— as the only known entrance from the Atlantic, the Strait of Magellan was at times patrolled by fleets sent to prevent entrance of non-Spanish ships. To end navigation by rival powers in
2385-550: A proper ceremony. On 20 November 1592 a ghostly Parliament session was called, pushed by Philip II, who had arrived in Pamplona at the head of an unspecified military force, and with one only point on his agenda—attendance to the session was kept blank on the minutes: unlawful appointments of trusted Castilian officials and imposition of his son as the future king of Navarre at the Santa Maria Cathedral . A ceremony
2544-695: A recurrent symbol in the flags of the Spanish armed forces and the Spanish Navy. Nations that were once part of the Spanish Empire consider " las aspas de Borgoña " to be a historical flag, particularly appropriate for museum exhibits and the remains of the massive harbour-defense fortifications built in the 17th–18th centuries. At both San Juan National Historic Site in Puerto Rico, and at Castillo de San Marcos National Monument in St. Augustine, Florida,
2703-568: A reference to the Scottish soldiers recruited by John the Fearless in the first years of the fifteenth century, led by the Earl of Mar and Earl of Douglas . However, earlier chronicle accounts and archaeological finds of heraldic badges from Paris indicate widespread adoption dates from 1411 in the context of factional warfare in the city. It was more likely to have been adopted because St. Andrew
2862-494: A relic of the old nominal case system of Latin longer than most other Romance languages (with the notable exception of Romanian which still currently maintains a case distinction), differentiating between an oblique case and a nominative case. The phonology was characterized by heavy syllabic stress, which led to the emergence of various complicated diphthongs such as -eau which would later be leveled to monophthongs. The earliest evidence of what became Old French can be seen in
3021-587: A second language. French is the second most taught foreign language in the EU. All institutions of the EU use French as a working language along with English and German ; in some institutions, French is the sole working language (e.g. at the Court of Justice of the European Union ). French is also the 16th most natively spoken language in the world, the sixth most spoken language by total number of speakers , and
3180-526: A second language. However it has also become a native language in a number of urban areas, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and the Democratic Republic of the Congo . In some North African countries, though not having official status, it is also a first language among some upper classes of the population alongside indigenous languages, but only
3339-885: A second one among the general population. In 2015, approximately 40% of the Francophone population (including L2 and partial speakers) lived in Europe, 36% in sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas, and 1% in Asia and Oceania. French is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union . Of Europeans who speak other languages natively, approximately one-fifth are able to speak French as
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#17327755664773498-513: A secondary flag, until Charles III introduced his new red-yellow-red naval ensign in 1785. It also remained in use in Spain's overseas empire. The flag eventually came to be adopted by the Carlists , a traditionalist - legitimist movement which fought three wars of succession against Isabella II of Spain . They claimed the throne of Spain for Carlos , who would have been the legal heir under
3657-584: A ship but was followed and eventually captured by Turgut Reis. In 1563, capitalizing on the political climate, the Regency of Algiers launched the sieges of Oran and Mers El Kébir in a large scale attempt to dislodge the major Spanish positions in Northern Africa, but the attempt met failure. Philip's navy then conquered Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera the following year. The Ottomans sent a large expedition to Malta , which laid siege to several forts on
3816-542: A smile that was cut by a sword". After living in the Netherlands in the early years of his reign, Philip II decided to return to Castile. Although sometimes described as an absolute monarch, Philip faced many constitutional constraints on his authority, influenced by the growing strength of the bureaucracy. The Spanish Empire was not a single monarchy with one legal system but a personal union of separate realms, each jealously guarding its own rights against those of
3975-525: A total of 30,000 soldiers under the command of Giovanni Andrea Doria , nephew of the famous Genoese admiral Andrea Doria . On 12 March 1560, the Holy League captured the island of Djerba , which had a strategic location and could control the sea routes between Algiers and Tripoli . As a response, Suleiman sent an Ottoman fleet of 120 ships under the command of Piyale Pasha, which arrived at Djerba on 9 May 1560. The battle lasted until 14 May 1560, and
4134-547: A variant of Canadian French , is spoken in parts of New England . Missouri French was historically spoken in Missouri and Illinois (formerly known as Upper Louisiana ), but is nearly extinct today. French also survived in isolated pockets along the Gulf Coast of what was previously French Lower Louisiana , such as Mon Louis Island , Alabama and DeLisle, Mississippi (the latter only being discovered by linguists in
4293-522: A woman artist. Charles V had left his son Philip with a debt of about 36 million ducats and an annual deficit of 1 million ducats. This debt caused Philip II to default on loans in 1557, 1560, 1575, and 1596 (including debt to Poland, known as Neapolitan sums ). Lenders had no power over the King and could not force him to repay his loans. These defaults were just the beginning of Spain's economic troubles as its kings would default six more times in
4452-437: Is 95%, and in the French collectivity of Wallis and Futuna , it is 84%. In French Polynesia and to a lesser extent Wallis and Futuna, where oral and written knowledge of the French language has become almost universal (95% and 84% respectively), French increasingly tends to displace the native Polynesian languages as the language most spoken at home. In French Polynesia, the percentage of the population who reported that French
4611-779: Is a Romance language of the Indo-European family . Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire . French evolved from Gallo-Romance , the Latin spoken in Gaul , and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl —languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French ( Francien ) largely supplanted. French
4770-472: Is a widespread second language among the Lebanese people , and is taught in many schools along with Arabic and English. French is used on Lebanese pound banknotes, on road signs, on Lebanese license plates , and on official buildings (alongside Arabic). Today, French and English are secondary languages of Lebanon , with about 40% of the population being Francophone and 40% Anglophone. The use of English
4929-489: Is also a working language in nonprofit organisations such as the Red Cross (alongside English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian), Amnesty International (alongside 32 other languages of which English is the most used, followed by Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Italian), Médecins sans Frontières (used alongside English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic), and Médecins du Monde (used alongside English). Given
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5088-430: Is among the top five most studied languages worldwide, with about 120 million learners as of 2017. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. French has a long history as an international language of literature and scientific standards and is a primary or second language of many international organisations including
5247-462: Is an official language in 27 countries , as well as one of the most geographically widespread languages in the world, with about 50 countries and territories having it as a de jure or de facto official, administrative, or cultural language. Most of these countries are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the community of 54 member states which share
5406-652: Is enacted only in New Brunswick, where about one third of the population is Francophone. French is also an official language of all of the territories ( Northwest Territories , Nunavut , and Yukon ). Out of the three, Yukon has the most French speakers, making up just under 4% of the population. Furthermore, while French is not an official language in Ontario , the French Language Services Act ensures that provincial services are available in
5565-503: Is growing in the business and media environment. Out of about 900,000 students, about 500,000 are enrolled in Francophone schools, public or private, in which the teaching of mathematics and scientific subjects is provided in French. Actual usage of French varies depending on the region and social status. One-third of high school students educated in French go on to pursue higher education in English-speaking institutions. English
5724-404: Is known as Old French. The period of Old French spanned between the 8th and 14th centuries. Old French shared many characteristics with Latin. For example, Old French made use of different possible word orders just as Latin did because it had a case system that retained the difference between nominative subjects and oblique non-subjects . The period is marked by a heavy superstrate influence from
5883-469: Is often considered to be a useful skill by business owners in the United Kingdom; a 2014 study found that 50% of British managers considered French to be a valuable asset for their business, thus ranking French as the most sought-after foreign language there, ahead of German (49%) and Spanish (44%). MIT economist Albert Saiz calculated a 2.3% premium for those who have French as a foreign language in
6042-828: Is one of the official languages of such major international and regional courts, tribunals, and dispute-settlement bodies as the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights , the Caribbean Court of Justice , the Court of Justice for the Economic Community of West African States , the Inter-American Court of Human Rights , the International Court of Justice , the International Criminal Tribunal for
6201-576: Is taught in universities around the world, and is one of the world's most influential languages because of its wide use in the worlds of journalism, jurisprudence , education, and diplomacy. In diplomacy, French is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (and one of the UN Secretariat 's only two working languages ), one of twenty official and three procedural languages of the European Union , an official language of NATO ,
6360-553: Is the language of business and communication, with French being an element of social distinction, chosen for its emotional value. French is an official language of the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu , where 31% of the population was estimated to speak it in 2023. In the French special collectivity of New Caledonia , 97% of the population can speak, read and write French while in French Polynesia this figure
6519-483: Is the native language of about 23% of the Swiss population, and is spoken by 50% of the population. Along with Luxembourgish and German, French is one of the three official languages of Luxembourg , where it is generally the preferred language of business as well as of the different public administrations. It is also the official language of Monaco . At a regional level, French is acknowledged as an official language in
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6678-492: Is the second-most spoken language (after English) in the states of Maine and New Hampshire . In Louisiana , it is tied with Spanish for second-most spoken if Louisiana French and all creoles such as Haitian are included. French is the third most spoken language (after English and Spanish) in the states of Connecticut , Rhode Island , and New Hampshire . Louisiana is home to many distinct French dialects, collectively known as Louisiana French . New England French , essentially
6837-424: Is the sole official language in the province of Quebec , where some 80% of the population speak it as a native language and 95% are capable of conducting a conversation in it. Quebec is also home to the city of Montreal , which is the world's fourth-largest French-speaking city, by number of first language speakers. New Brunswick and Manitoba are the only officially bilingual provinces, though full bilingualism
6996-764: The Aosta Valley region of Italy where it is the first language of approximately 50% of the population, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands . It is also spoken in Andorra and is the main language after Catalan in El Pas de la Casa . The language is taught as the primary second language in the German state of Saarland , with French being taught from pre-school and over 43% of citizens being able to speak French. The majority of
7155-413: The Aosta Valley region of Italy; and various communities elsewhere. French is estimated to have about 310 million speakers, of which about 80 million are native speakers. According to the OIF, approximately 321 million people worldwide are "able to speak the language" as of 2022, without specifying the criteria for this estimation or whom it encompasses. In Francophone Africa, it is spoken mainly as
7314-455: The Balearic Islands , especially inflicting great damage on Menorca and enslaving many, while raiding the coasts of the Spanish mainland. Philip appealed to the Pope and other powers in Europe to bring an end to the rising Ottoman threat. Since his father's losses against the Ottomans and against Hayreddin Barbarossa in 1541, the major European sea powers in the Mediterranean, namely the Spanish Crown and Venice , became hesitant in confronting
7473-479: The Battle of Mookerheyde on 14 April 1574, killing both him and his brother Henry of Nassau-Dillenburg . Rampant inflation and the loss of treasure fleets from the New World prevented Philip from paying his soldiers consistently, leading to the so-called Spanish Fury at Antwerp in 1576, where soldiers ran amok through the streets, burning more than 1,000 homes and killing 6,000 citizens. Philip sent in Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma , as Governor-General of
7632-439: The Crown of Aragon . In the north, Milan was a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire held by Philip. Attached to the Kingdom of Naples, the State of Presidi in Tuscany gave Philip the possibility to monitor maritime traffic to southern Italy, whilst the grant of the Duchy of Siena to the new Grand Duchy of Tuscany , ensured it would remain a Spanish ally. The Council of Italy was set up by Philip in order to co-ordinate his rule over
7791-539: The Democratic Republic of Congo . There is not a single African French , but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages . Sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth. It is also where the language has evolved the most in recent years. Some vernacular forms of French in Africa can be difficult to understand for French speakers from other countries, but written forms of
7950-420: The Duchy of Savoy , and Corsica to the Republic of Genoa . Both Genoa and Savoy were allies of Spain and, although Savoy subsequently declared its neutrality between France and Spain, Genoa remained a crucial financial ally for Philip during his entire reign. The treaty also confirmed Philip's control over Milan , Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia . Therefore, all of southern Italy was under Spanish rule as part of
8109-406: The English Armada into Spain. Two more Spanish armadas unsuccessfully tried to invade England in 1596 and 1597 . The Anglo-Spanish War carried on until 1604, six years after Philip's death. Under Philip, an average of about 9,000 soldiers were recruited from Spain each year, rising to as many as 20,000 in crisis years. Between 1567 and 1574, nearly 43,000 men left Spain to fight in Italy and
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#17327755664778268-485: The European Union , French was the dominant language within all institutions until the 1990s. After several enlargements of the EU (1995, 2004), French significantly lost ground in favour of English, which is more widely spoken and taught in most EU countries. French currently remains one of the three working languages, or "procedural languages", of the EU, along with English and German. It is the second-most widely used language within EU institutions after English, but remains
8427-441: The Francien dialect is one that not only continued but also thrived during the Middle French period (14th–17th centuries). Modern French grew out of this Francien dialect. Grammatically, during the period of Middle French, noun declensions were lost and there began to be standardized rules. Robert Estienne published the first Latin-French dictionary, which included information about phonetics, etymology, and grammar. Politically,
8586-454: The Holy League under the command of Philip's half brother, Don John of Austria , and Don Álvaro de Bazán . A fleet sent by Philip, again commanded by Don John, reconquered Tunis from the Ottomans in 1573. The Turks soon rebuilt their fleet, and in 1574 Uluç Ali Reis managed to recapture Tunis with a force of 250 galleys and a siege that lasted 40 days. Thousands of Spanish and Italian soldiers became prisoners. Nevertheless, Lepanto marked
8745-507: The House of Habsburg . In practice, Philip often found his authority overruled by local assemblies and his word less effective than that of local lords. Philip carried several titles as heir to the Spanish kingdoms and empire , including Prince of Asturias . The newest constituent kingdom in the empire was Upper Navarre , a realm invaded by Ferdinand II of Aragon mainly with Castilian troops (1512), and annexed to Castile with an ambiguous status (1513). War across Navarre continued until
8904-415: The Iconoclast Fury ; in response to growing Protestant influence, the army of the Duke of Alba went on the offensive. In 1568, Alba had Lamoral, Count of Egmont and Philip de Montmorency, Count of Horn executed in Brussels ' central square , further alienating the local aristocracy. There were massacres of civilians in Mechelen , Naarden , Zutphen and Haarlem . In 1571, Alba erected at Antwerp
9063-439: The International Olympic Committee , the Council of Europe , the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , Organization of American States (alongside Spanish, Portuguese and English), the Eurovision Song Contest , one of eighteen official languages of the European Space Agency , World Trade Organization and the least used of the three official languages in the North American Free Trade Agreement countries. It
9222-499: The Italian Wars . Philip was present at the Siege of Perpignan in 1542 but did not see action as the Spanish army under Alba decisively defeated the besieging French forces under the Dauphin of France . On his way back to Castile, Philip received the oath of allegiance of the Aragonese Cortes at Monzón . His political training had begun a year previously under his father, who had found his son studious, grave, and prudent beyond his years, and having decided to train and initiate him in
9381-489: The Low Countries (modern-day Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands). A member of the House of Habsburg , Philip was the son of Emperor Charles V , who was also king of Castile and Aragon , and Isabella of Portugal . He was born in the Castilian capital of Valladolid on 21 May 1527 at Palacio de Pimentel , which was owned by Don Bernardino Pimentel (the first Marqués de Távara). The culture and courtly life of Castile were an important influence in his early life. He
9540-420: The Oaths of Strasbourg and the Sequence of Saint Eulalia , while Old French literature began to be produced in the eleventh century, with major early works often focusing on the lives of saints (such as the Vie de Saint Alexis ), or wars and royal courts, notably including the Chanson de Roland , epic cycles focused on King Arthur and his court , as well as a cycle focused on William of Orange . It
9699-405: The Papal States and temporarily held territory there, perhaps in response to Pope Paul IV 's anti-Spanish outlook. According to Philip II, he was doing it for the benefit of the Church . In a letter to the Princess Dowager of Portugal, Regent of the Spanish kingdoms, dated 22 September 1556, Francisco de Vargas wrote: I have reported to your Highness what has been happening here, and how far
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#17327755664779858-444: The Papal States and the Pope declared a neutral position between France and the Spanish kingdoms. Philip led the Spanish kingdoms into the final phase of the Italian Wars . A Spanish advance into France from the Low Countries led to their important victory at the Battle of St. Quentin (1557) . The French were defeated again at the Battle of Gravelines (1558) . The resulting Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis in 1559 secured Piedmont to
10017-462: The Perez affair . Following a fire in Valladolid in 1561, he resisted calls to move his Court to Lisbon , an act that could have curbed centralisation and bureaucracy domestically as well as relaxed rule in the Empire as a whole. Instead, with the traditional Royal and Primacy seat of Toledo now essentially obsolete, he moved his Court to the Castilian stronghold of Madrid . Except for a brief period under Philip III of Spain , Madrid has remained
10176-410: The Revolt of the Netherlands in 1568, Philip waged a campaign against Dutch heresy and secession. It also dragged in the English and the French at times and expanded into the German Rhineland with the Cologne War . This series of conflicts lasted for the rest of his life. Philip's constant involvement and focus in European wars took a significant toll on the treasury and caused economic difficulties for
10335-418: The Salic Law , which had been controversially abolished by Ferdinand VII . In the First Carlist War (1833–1840), however, the Burgundian banner was used as a banner of the Regent Queen's standing Army rather than that of the Carlist. After 1843 the red Burgundian saltire was repeatedly used the new red-yellow army flag under a four-quartered Castilian and Leonese coat of arms on the central yellow fess. During
10494-520: The United Nations , the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization , the World Trade Organization , the International Olympic Committee , the General Conference on Weights and Measures , and the International Committee of the Red Cross . French is a Romance language (meaning that it is descended primarily from Vulgar Latin ) that evolved out of the Gallo-Romance dialects spoken in northern France. The language's early forms include Old French and Middle French . Due to Roman rule, Latin
10653-402: The War of the Portuguese Succession , the pretender António fled to France following his defeats and, as Philip's armies had not yet occupied the Azores , he sailed there with a large Anglo-French fleet under Filippo Strozzi , a Florentine exile in the service of France. The naval Battle of Terceira took place on 26 July 1582, in the sea near the Azores, off São Miguel Island , as part of
10812-450: The 1528 ( Treaties of Madrid and Cambrai ). Charles V proposed to end hostilities with King Henry II of Navarre —the legitimate monarch of Navarre—by marrying his son Philip to the heiress of Navarre, Jeanne III of Navarre . The marriage would provide a dynastic solution to instability in Navarre, making him king of all Navarre (Upper and Lower ) and a prince of the independent Béarn , as well as lord of part of southwestern France. However,
10971-455: The 1990s) but these varieties are severely endangered or presumed extinct. French is one of two official languages in Haiti alongside Haitian Creole . It is the principal language of education, administration, business, and public signage and is spoken by all educated Haitians. It is also used for ceremonial events such as weddings, graduations, and church masses. The vast majority of the population speaks Haitian Creole as their first language;
11130-474: The 20th century, when it was replaced by English as the United States became the dominant global power following the Second World War . Stanley Meisler of the Los Angeles Times said that the fact that the Treaty of Versailles was written in English as well as French was the "first diplomatic blow" against the language. During the Grand Siècle (17th century), France, under the rule of powerful leaders such as Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIV , enjoyed
11289-408: The 20th-century Spanish Civil War the Cross of Burgundy was used as a badge by the Carlists under the leadership of Manuel Fal Condé , who fought on the side of the Nationalists led by Francisco Franco. Users mostly have some direct or indirect relation to the historical Burgundy, though such connection can be very vague and lost in the mists of time. Owing to the impact of the Spanish Empire as
11448-520: The Americas, used on regimental colours, badges, shoulder patches, and company guidons. In the 20th century, the Cross of Burgundy has been used as a far-right nationalist symbol by the Carlists in favour of Francisco Franco and by the Walloon Legion fighting for Nazi Germany . The banner strictly speaking dates to the early 15th century when the supporters of the Duke of Burgundy adopted
11607-766: The Canadian capital, is also effectively bilingual, as it has a large population of federal government workers, who are required to offer services in both French and English, and is just across the river from the Quebecois city of Gatineau . According to the United States Census Bureau (2011), French is the fourth most spoken language in the United States after English, Spanish, and Chinese, when all forms of French are considered together and all dialects of Chinese are similarly combined. French
11766-917: The Caribbean that are collectively referred to as the French West Indies , namely Guadeloupe , Saint Barthélemy , Saint Martin , and Martinique . French is the official language of both French Guiana on the South American continent, and of Saint Pierre and Miquelon , an archipelago off the coast of Newfoundland in North America. French was the official language of the colony of French Indochina , comprising modern-day Vietnam , Laos , and Cambodia . It continues to be an administrative language in Laos and Cambodia, although its influence has waned in recent decades. In colonial Vietnam,
11925-479: The Cross of Burgundy is daily flown over the historic forts, built by Spain to defend their lines of communication between the territories of their New World empire. The flying of this flag reminds people today of the impact Spain and its military had on world history for over 400 years. It was also used by Spanish military forces. French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] )
12084-693: The Crown and even bankruptcies. In 1588, the English defeated Philip's Spanish Armada , thwarting his planned invasion of the country to reinstate Catholicism. But war with England continued for the next sixteen years, in a complex series of struggles that included France, Ireland and the main battle zone, the Low Countries . It would not end until all the leading protagonists, including himself, had died. Earlier, however, after several setbacks in his reign and especially that of his father, Philip did achieve
12243-620: The Duke of Parma to end Henry IV's siege of Paris in 1590 and the siege of Rouen in 1592—contributed in saving the French Catholic Leagues's cause against a Protestant monarchy. In 1593, Henry agreed to convert to Catholicism; weary of war, most French Catholics switched to his side against the hardline core of the Catholic League, who were portrayed by Henry's propagandists as puppets of a foreign monarch, Philip. By
12402-579: The Dutch aristocracy, William the Silent , Prince of Orange , invaded the Netherlands with a Protestant army, but he only succeeded in holding two provinces, Holland and Zeeland . Because of the Spanish repulse in the Siege of Alkmaar (1573) led by his equally brutal son Fadrique , Alba resigned his command, replaced by Luis de Requesens y Zúñiga . Alba boasted that he had burned or executed 18,600 persons in
12561-538: The Empire, this local elite had been slowly abandoning Gaulish entirely, but the rural and lower class populations remained Gaulish speakers who could sometimes also speak Latin or Greek. The final language shift from Gaulish to Vulgar Latin among rural and lower class populations occurred later, when both they and the incoming Frankish ruler/military class adopted the Gallo-Roman Vulgar Latin speech of
12720-727: The Franco-Spanish Catholic forces. French victory at the Battle of Fontaine-Française in Burgundy, 5 June 1595, marked an end to the Catholic League in France. The French also made some progress during an invasion of the Spanish Netherlands . They captured Ham and massacred the small Spanish garrison, provoking anger among the Spanish ranks. The Spanish launched a concerted offensive that year, taking Doullens , Cambrai , and Le Catelet ; at Doullens, they massacred 4,000 of its citizens. On 24 April 1596,
12879-547: The French Huguenots . In 1588, he sent an armada to invade Protestant England, with the strategic aim of overthrowing Elizabeth I and re-establishing Catholicism there, but his fleet was defeated in a skirmish at Gravelines (northern France) and then destroyed by storms as it circled the British Isles to return to Spain. The following year Philip's naval power was able to recover after the failed invasion of
13038-612: The French Catholic cause gain the conversion of Henry, ensuring that Catholicism would remain France's official and majority faith—matters of paramount importance for the devoutly Catholic Spanish king. In the early part of his reign Philip was concerned with the rising power of the Ottoman Empire under Suleiman the Magnificent . Fear of Islamic domination in the Mediterranean caused him to pursue an aggressive foreign policy. In 1558, Turkish admiral Piyale Pasha captured
13197-521: The French nobility under Francis I opposed the arrangement and successfully ended the prospects of marriage between the heirs of Habsburg and Albret in 1541. In his will, Charles stated his doubts over Navarre and recommended that his son give the kingdom back. Both King Charles and his son Philip II failed to abide by the elective (contractual) nature of the Crown of Navarre and took the kingdom for granted. This sparked mounting tension not only with King Henry II and Queen Jeanne III of Navarre but also with
13356-575: The French throne. Elisabeth of Valois , Philip's third wife and Isabella's mother, had already ceded any claim to the French Crown with her marriage to Philip and in France the Salic law remained in effect. However, the Parlement of Paris , in power of the Catholic party, gave verdict that Isabella Clara Eugenia was "the legitimate sovereign" of France. Philip's interventions in the fighting—sending
13515-484: The Germanic Frankish language , which non-exhaustively included the use in upper-class speech and higher registers of V2 word order , a large percentage of the vocabulary (now at around 15% of modern French vocabulary ) including the impersonal singular pronoun on (a calque of Germanic man ), and the name of the language itself. Up until its later stages, Old French , alongside Old Occitan , maintained
13674-483: The Netherlands, in addition to the far greater number he massacred during the war, many of them women and children; 8,000 persons were burned or hanged in one year, and the total number of Alba's Flemish victims can not have fallen short of 50,000. Under Requesens, the Army of Flanders reached a peak strength of 86,000 in 1574 and retained its battlefield superiority, destroying Louis of Nassau 's German mercenary army at
13833-555: The Netherlands, when he left the low countries for the Spanish kingdoms in 1559, but forced her to adjust policy to the advice of Cardinal Granvelle , who was greatly disliked in the Netherlands, after he insisted on direct control over events in the Netherlands despite being over two weeks' ride away in Madrid. There was discontent in the Netherlands about Philip's taxation demands and the incessant persecution of Protestants. In 1566, Protestant preachers sparked anti-clerical riots known as
13992-708: The Ottomans. The myth of "Turkish invincibility" was becoming a popular story, causing fear and panic among the people. In 1560, Philip II organised a Holy League between the Spanish kingdoms and the Republic of Venice, the Republic of Genoa , the Papal States , the Duchy of Savoy and the Knights of Malta . The joint fleet was assembled at Messina and consisted of 200 ships (60 galleys and 140 other vessels) carrying
14151-669: The Parliament of the Spanish Navarre ( Cortes , The Three States ) and the Diputación for breach of the realm specific laws (fueros) —violation of the pactum subjection is as ratified by Ferdinand. Tensions in Navarre came to a head in 1592 after several years of disagreements over the agenda of the intended parliamentary session. In November 1592 , the Parliament ( Cortes ) of Aragón revolted against another breach of
14310-450: The Pope is going in his fury and vain imaginings. His Majesty could not do otherwise than have a care for his reputation and dominions. I am sure your Highness will have had more recent news from the Duke of Alva, who has taken the field with an excellent army and has penetrated so far into the Pope's territory that his cavalry is raiding up to ten miles from Rome, where there is such panic that
14469-535: The Portuguese nobleman Rui Gomes da Silva and Luis de Requesens y Zúñiga , the son of his governor. These men would serve Philip throughout their lives, as would Antonio Pérez , his secretary from 1541. Philip's martial training was undertaken by his governor, Juan de Zúñiga y Requesens , a Castilian nobleman who served as the commendador mayor of Castile. The practical lessons in warfare were overseen by Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba during
14628-673: The Spanish also conquered Calais . Following the Spanish capture of Amiens in March 1597, the French Crown laid siege to it until it managed to reconquer Amiens from the overstretched Spanish forces in September 1597. Henry then negotiated a peace with the Spanish Crown. The war was only drawn to an official close, however, with the Peace of Vervins in May 1598. The 1598 Treaty of Vervins
14787-440: The Spanish monarchy to govern Philip's overseas possessions more effectively. Charles V abdicated the throne of Naples to Philip on 25 July 1554, and the young king was invested with the kingdom (officially a Papal fief) on 2 October by Pope Julius III . The date of Charles' abdication of the throne of Sicily is uncertain, but Philip was invested with this kingdom on 18 November 1554 by Julius. In 1556, Philip decided to invade
14946-461: The Strait of Magellan Spanish viceroy Francisco de Toledo ordered Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa to explore the strait and found settlements on its shores. In 1584, Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa founded two colonies in the strait: Nombre de Jesús , and Ciudad del Rey Don Felipe . The latter was established north of the strait with 300 settlers. The new colonies suffered from high death rates, likely as
15105-525: The Strait of Magellan caused Chiloé Archipelago to assume the role of protecting western Patagonia from foreign intrusions. Valdivia and Chiloé acted as sentries, being hubs where the Spanish collected intelligence from all over Patagonia. Philip's rule in the Seventeen Provinces known collectively as the Netherlands faced many difficulties, leading to open warfare in 1568. He appointed his half-sister Margaret of Parma as Governor of
15264-654: The War of the Portuguese Succession and the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) . The Spanish navy defeated the combined Anglo-French fleet that had sailed to preserve control of the Azores under António. The French naval contingent was the largest French force sent overseas before the age of Louis XIV . The Spanish victory at Terceira was followed by the Battle of the Azores between the Portuguese loyal to
15423-432: The ailing colony has been attributed to the strain on Spain's resources that resulted from wars with England and Dutch rebels. In 1587, English corsairs renamed Ciudad del Rey Don Felipe, Puerto del Hambre, or "Port Famine". Most of the settlers had died from cold or starvation. When Sir Thomas Cavendish landed at the site of Rey Don Felipe in 1587, he found only ruins of the settlement. The Spanish failure at colonizing
15582-569: The aristocratic houses of France, such as the House of Bourbon and House of Guise , and both sides received assistance from foreign sources. Philip claimed descent from Constantine I and Charlemagne , justifying his intervention in French Wars of Religion and his continuing efforts to depose Henry IV of France . Philip signed the Treaty of Vaucelles with Henry II of France in 1556. Based on
15741-607: The badge to show allegiance in the Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War . It represents the cross on which Andrew the Apostle was crucified. The design is a red saltire resembling two crossed, roughly-pruned, branches on a white field. In heraldic language, it may be blazoned argent , a saltire ragulée (or raguly) gules . Pedro de Ayala , writing in the 1490s, claims a previous Duke of Burgundy first adopted this emblem to honour his Scottish soldiers. This must be
15900-517: The capital of Spain. It was around this time that Philip II converted the Royal Alcázar of Madrid into a royal palace; the works, which lasted from 1561 until 1598, were done by tradesmen who came from the Netherlands, Italy, and France. King Philip II ruled at a critical turning point in European history toward modernity whereas his father Charles V had been forced to an itinerant rule as
16059-698: The claimant António, supported by French and English troops, and the Spanish-Portuguese forces loyal to Philip commanded by the admiral Don Álvaro de Bazán . Victory in Azores completed the incorporation of Portugal into the Spanish Empire . Philip financed the Catholic League during the French Wars of Religion. He directly intervened in the final phases of the wars (1589–1598), ordering Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma into France in an effort to unseat Henry IV , and perhaps dreaming of placing his favourite daughter, Isabella Clara Eugenia , on
16218-616: The country near French-speaking Quebec, however, it is the foreign language more commonly taught. Vowel phonemes in French Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 1527 – 13 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent ( Spanish : Felipe el Prudente ), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He
16377-519: The demographic prospects of the French-speaking nations of Africa, researcher Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry wrote in 2014 that French "could be the language of the future". However, some African countries such as Algeria intermittently attempted to eradicate the use of French, and as of 2024 it was removed as an official language in Mali and Burkina Faso . Significant as a judicial language, French
16536-448: The economic power of the countries using the language, the number of major areas in which the language is used, and the linguistic prestige associated with the mastery of the language (Weber highlighted that French in particular enjoys considerable linguistic prestige). In a 2008 reassessment of his article, Weber concluded that his findings were still correct since "the situation among the top ten remains unchanged." Knowledge of French
16695-594: The elites primarily spoke French, while many servants who worked in French households spoke a French pidgin known as " Tây Bồi " (now extinct). After French rule ended, South Vietnam continued to use French in administration, education, and trade. However, since the Fall of Saigon and the opening of a unified Vietnam's economy, French has gradually been effectively displaced as the first foreign language of choice by English in Vietnam. Nevertheless, it continues to be taught as
16854-526: The end of 1594 certain League members were still working against Henry across the country, but all relied on the support of the Spanish Crown. In January 1595, therefore, Henry officially declared war on the Spanish Crown, to show Catholics that Philip was using religion as a cover for an attack on the French state, and Protestants that he had not become a puppet of the Spanish Crown through his conversion, while hoping to reconquer large parts of northern France from
17013-522: The expulsion of the Moriscos from Granada and their dispersal to other provinces. Despite its immense dominions, the Spanish kingdoms had a sparse population that yielded a limited income to the crown (in contrast to France , for example, which was much more heavily populated). Philip faced major difficulties in raising taxes, and the collection was largely farmed out to local lords. He was able to finance his military campaigns only by taxing and exploiting
17172-516: The first government authority to adopt Modern French as official was the Aosta Valley in 1536, while the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (1539) named French the language of law in the Kingdom of France . During the 17th century, French replaced Latin as the most important language of diplomacy and international relations ( lingua franca ). It retained this role until approximately the middle of
17331-744: The flag as one of the many symbols of their dynasty . After the Burgundian Habsburgs ascended to the throne of Spain in 1506, their officials introduced this ensign in the Spanish Empire throughout the Castilian and Aragonese territories in Europe and in the Americas . As a reflection of the historical reach of the Burgundian, Habsburg, and Spanish empires and territories, the emblem can be found in several countries in Europe and in
17490-460: The forces of Piyale Pasha and Turgut Reis (who joined Piyale Pasha on the third day of the battle) won an overwhelming victory at the Battle of Djerba . The Holy League lost 60 ships (30 galleys) and 20,000 men, and Giovanni Andrea Doria was barely able to escape with a small vessel. The Ottomans retook the Fortress of Djerba, whose Spanish commander, D. Álvaro de Sande , attempted to escape with
17649-915: The former Yugoslavia , International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda , the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea the International Criminal Court and the World Trade Organization Appellate Body . It is the sole internal working language of the Court of Justice of the European Union , and makes with English the European Court of Human Rights 's two working languages. In 1997, George Weber published, in Language Today ,
17808-829: The gender of the corresponding word in Gaulish. The estimated number of French words that can be attributed to Gaulish is placed at 154 by the Petit Robert , which is often viewed as representing standardized French, while if non-standard dialects are included, the number increases to 240. Known Gaulish loans are skewed toward certain semantic fields, such as plant life ( chêne , bille , etc.), animals ( mouton , cheval , etc.), nature ( boue , etc.), domestic activities (ex. berceau ), farming and rural units of measure ( arpent , lieue , borne , boisseau ), weapons, and products traded regionally rather than further afield. This semantic distribution has been attributed to peasants being
17967-457: The government of the Spanish kingdoms. The king-emperor's interactions with his son during his stay in Castile convinced him of Philip's precocity in statesmanship, so he determined to leave in his hands the regency of the Spanish kingdoms in 1543. Philip, who had previously been made the Duke of Milan in 1540, began governing the most extensive empire in the world at the young age of sixteen. Charles left Philip with experienced advisors—notably
18126-481: The island and took some of them, but the Spanish sent a relief force under D. García de Toledo and a rescued Álvaro de Sande, which finally drove the Ottoman army out of the island. The grave threat posed by the increasing Ottoman domination of the Mediterranean was finally reversed in one of history's most decisive battles, with the destruction of nearly the entire Ottoman fleet at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, by
18285-454: The language are very closely related to those of the rest of the French-speaking world. French is the second most commonly spoken language in Canada and one of two federal official languages alongside English. As of the 2021 Canadian census , it was the native language of 7.7 million people (21% of the population) and the second language of 2.9 million (8% of the population). French
18444-479: The language, although it has now given way to Tamil and English. A former French mandate , Lebanon designates Arabic as the sole official language, while a special law regulates cases when French can be publicly used. Article 11 of Lebanon's Constitution states that "Arabic is the official national language. A law determines the cases in which the French language is to be used". The French language in Lebanon
18603-612: The language. The Act applies to areas of the province where there are significant Francophone communities, namely Eastern Ontario and Northern Ontario . Elsewhere, sizable French-speaking minorities are found in southern Manitoba, Nova Scotia , Prince Edward Island and the Port au Port Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the unique Newfoundland French dialect was historically spoken. Smaller pockets of French speakers exist in all other provinces. The Ontarian city of Ottawa ,
18762-479: The last to hold onto Gaulish. The beginning of French in Gaul was greatly influenced by Germanic invasions into the country. These invasions had the greatest impact on the northern part of the country and on the language there. A language divide began to grow across the country. The population in the north spoke langue d'oïl while the population in the south spoke langue d'oc . Langue d'oïl grew into what
18921-457: The local resources of his empire. The flow of income from the New World proved vital to his militant foreign policy, but his exchequer several times faced bankruptcy. Spanish culture flourished during Philip's reign, beginning the " Spanish Golden Age ", creating a lasting legacy in literature, music, and the visual arts. One of the notable artists from Philip II's court was Sofonisba Anguissola , who gained fame for her talent and unusual role as
19080-420: The necessity and means to annihilate the patois and to universalize the use of the French language". When public education was made compulsory , only French was taught and the use of any other ( patois ) language was punished. The goals of the public school system were made especially clear to the French-speaking teachers sent to teach students in regions such as Occitania and Brittany . Instructions given by
19239-624: The next 65 years. Aside from reducing state revenues for overseas expeditions, the domestic policies of Philip II further burdened the Spanish kingdoms and would, in the following century, contribute to its decline, as maintained by some historians. The Spanish kingdoms were subject to different assemblies: the Cortes in Castile , the assembly in Navarre , and one each for the four kingdoms of Aragon , which preserved traditional rights and laws from
19398-460: The official use or teaching of French. It is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the number of speakers) in France; Canada (especially in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick); Belgium ( Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region ); western Switzerland (specifically the cantons forming the Romandy region); parts of Luxembourg; parts of the United States (the states of Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont); Monaco;
19557-475: The other main foreign language in the Vietnamese educational system and is regarded as a cultural language. All three countries are full members of La Francophonie (OIF). French was the official language of French India , consisting of the geographically separate enclaves referred to as Puducherry . It continued to be an official language of the territory even after its cession to India in 1956 until 1965. A small number of older locals still retain knowledge of
19716-424: The past, and that the French will calm down. May God give us peace in the end, as their Majesties desire and deserve! In response to the invasion, Pope Paul IV called for a French military intervention. After minor fights in Lazio and near Rome, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba , Viceroy of Naples met Cardinal Carlo Carafa and signed the Treaty of Cave as a compromise: French and Spanish forces left
19875-417: The peninsula. Mary Tudor's death in 1558 enabled Philip to seal the treaty by marrying Henry II's daughter, Elisabeth of Valois , later giving him a claim to the throne of France on behalf of his daughter by Elisabeth, Isabella Clara Eugenia . The French Wars of Religion (1562–1598) were primarily fought between French Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots). The conflict involved the factional disputes between
20034-412: The population would have run away had not the gates been closed. The Pope has fallen ill with rage, and was struggling with a fever on the 16th of this month. The two Carafa brothers, the Cardinal and Count Montorio, do not agree, and they and Piero Strozzi are not on as good terms as they were in the past. They would like to discuss peace. The best thing would be for the Pope to die, for he is the poison at
20193-401: The preferred language of certain institutions or administrations such as the Court of Justice of the European Union , where it is the sole internal working language, or the Directorate-General for Agriculture . Since 2016, Brexit has rekindled discussions on whether or not French should again hold greater role within the institutions of the European Union. A leading world language , French
20352-478: The premier power of Europe, to the detriment of France. In France, Henry II was fatally wounded in a joust held during the celebrations of the peace. His death led to the accession of his 15-year-old son Francis II , who in turn soon died. The French monarchy was thrown into turmoil, which increased further with the outbreak of the French Wars of Religion that would last for several decades. The states of Italy were reduced to second-rate powers, with Spain dominating
20511-450: The realm-specific laws, so the Attorney General ( Justicia ) of the kingdom, Juan de Lanuza, was executed on Philip II's orders, with his secretary Antonio Pérez taking exile in France. In Navarre, the major strongholds of the kingdom were garrisoned by troops alien to the kingdom (Castilians) in a conspicuous violation of the local laws, and the Parliament had long been refusing to pledge loyalty to Philip II's son and heir apparent without
20670-405: The reign of Philip and Joanna's son, Emperor Charles V , who was King Charles I of Spain since 1516 and Duke Charles II of Burgundy since 1506, various armies within his empire used the flag with the Cross of Burgundy over different fields. It was one of the many Habsburg symbols and the right to use it was inherited by Philip II of Spain together with the Burgundian territories. The official field
20829-407: The rest largely speak French as a first language. As a French Creole language , Haitian Creole draws the large majority of its vocabulary from French, with influences from West African languages, as well as several European languages. It is closely related to Louisiana Creole and the creole from the Lesser Antilles . French is the sole official language of all the overseas territories of France in
20988-480: The root of all this trouble and more which may occur. His Majesty's intention is only to wrest the knife from this madman's hand and make him return to a sense of his dignity, acting like the protector of the Apostolic See , in whose name, and that of the College of Cardinals , his Majesty has publicly proclaimed that he has seized all he is occupying. The Pope is now sending again to the potentates of Italy for help. I hope he will gain as little thereby as he has done in
21147-426: The secretary Francisco de los Cobos and the general, the Duke of Alba. Philip was also left with extensive written instructions that emphasised "piety, patience, modesty, and distrust". These principles of Charles were gradually assimilated by his son, who would grow up to become grave, self-possessed and cautious. Personally, Philip spoke softly and had an icy self-mastery; in the words of one of his ministers, "he had
21306-408: The states of Milan, Naples and Sicily. Ultimately, the treaty ended the 60-year Franco-Habsburg wars for supremacy in Italy. It marked also the beginning of a period of peace between the Pope and Philip, as their European interests converged, although political differences remained and diplomatic contrasts eventually re-emerged. By the end of the wars in 1559, Habsburg Spain had been established as
21465-416: The terms of the treaty, the territory of Franche-Comté in Burgundy was to be relinquished to Philip. However, the treaty was broken shortly afterwards. France and the Spanish kingdoms waged war in northern France and Italy over the following years. Spanish victories at St. Quentin and Gravelines led to the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis, in which France recognised Spanish sovereignty over Franche-Comté. During
21624-452: The time when they were separate kingdoms. This made the Spanish kingdoms and its possessions difficult to rule, unlike France, which while divided into regional states, had a single Estates General . The lack of a viable supreme assembly led to power defaulting into Philip II's hands, especially as manager and final arbiter of the constant conflict between different authorities. To deal with the difficulties arising from this situation, authority
21783-408: The title of Duke of Burgundy and their subjects. It was first used in the 15th century by the Valois Dukes of Burgundy , who ruled a large part of eastern France and the Low Countries as an effectively independent state . At the extinction of the Valois ducal line in 1477, the Burgundian Low Countries were inherited by the Habsburgs , who retained the title of Dukes of Burgundy and adopted
21942-414: The total number of French speakers will reach approximately 500 million in 2025 and 650 million by 2050, largely due to rapid population growth in sub-Saharan Africa . OIF estimates 700 million French speakers by 2050, 80% of whom will be in Africa. In a study published in March 2014 by Forbes , the investment bank Natixis said that French could become the world's most spoken language by 2050. In
22101-619: The two official languages—along with Dutch —of the Brussels-Capital Region , where it is spoken by the majority of the population (approx. 80%), often as their primary language. French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland, along with German, Italian, and Romansh , and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland, called Romandy , of which Geneva is the largest city. The language divisions in Switzerland do not coincide with political subdivisions, and some cantons have bilingual status: for example, cities such as Biel/Bienne and cantons such as Valais , Fribourg and Bern . French
22260-508: The urban intellectual elite. The Gaulish language likely survived into the sixth century in France despite considerable Romanization . Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the Vulgar Latin dialects that developed into French contributing loanwords and calques (including oui , the word for "yes"), sound changes shaped by Gaulish influence, and influences in conjugation and word order. Recent computational studies suggest that early gender shifts may have been motivated by
22419-425: The use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, and legal contracts; advertisements must bear a translation of foreign words. In Belgium, French is an official language at the federal level along with Dutch and German. At the regional level, French is the sole official language of Wallonia (excluding a part of the East Cantons , which are German-speaking ) and one of
22578-481: The workplace. In 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese . In English-speaking Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, French is the first foreign language taught and in number of pupils is far ahead of other languages. In the United States, French is the second-most commonly taught foreign language in schools and universities, although well behind Spanish. In some areas of
22737-402: The world's French-speaking population lives in Africa. According to a 2023 estimate from the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie , an estimated 167 million African people spread across 35 countries and territories can speak French as either a first or a second language . This number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as
22896-435: Was administered by local agents appointed by the crown and viceroys carrying out crown instructions. Philip II felt it necessary to be involved in the detail, and he presided over specialised councils for state affairs, finance, war, and the Inquisition . Philip II played groups against each other, leading to a system of checks and balances that managed affairs inefficiently, even to the extent of damaging state business, as in
23055-421: Was also jure uxoris King of England and Ireland from his marriage to Queen Mary I in 1554 until her death in 1558. Further, he was Duke of Milan from 1540. From 1555, he was Lord of the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands . The son of Emperor Charles V and Isabella of Portugal , Philip inherited his father's Spanish Empire in 1556 and succeeded to the Portuguese throne in 1580 following
23214-417: Was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the ( Germanic ) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to the French colonial empire , there are numerous French-based creole languages , most notably Haitian Creole . A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French
23373-531: Was during the period of the Crusades in which French became so dominant in the Mediterranean Sea that became a lingua franca ("Frankish language"), and because of increased contact with the Arabs during the Crusades who referred to them as Franj , numerous Arabic loanwords entered French, such as amiral (admiral), alcool (alcohol), coton (cotton) and sirop (syrop), as well as scientific terms such as algébre (algebra), alchimie (alchemy) and zéro (zero). Within Old French many dialects emerged but
23532-428: Was eleven months old, he received the oath of allegiance as heir to the crown from the Cortes of Castile. From that time until the death of his mother Isabella in 1539, he was raised in the royal court of Castile under the care of his mother and one of her Portuguese ladies, Doña Leonor de Mascarenhas, to whom he was devotedly attached. Philip was also close to his two sisters, María and Juana , and to his two pages,
23691-419: Was entrusted to the royal governess Leonor de Mascareñas , and tutored by Juan Martínez Siliceo , the future archbishop of Toledo . Philip displayed reasonable aptitude in arts and letters alike. Later he would study with more illustrious tutors, including the humanist Juan Cristóbal Calvete de Estrella. Though Philip had good command over Latin , Spanish, and Portuguese, he never managed to equal his father as
23850-400: Was gradually adopted by the inhabitants of Gaul. As the language was learned by the common people, it developed a distinct local character, with grammatical differences from Latin as spoken elsewhere, some of which is attested in graffiti. This local variety evolved into the Gallo-Romance tongues, which include French and its closest relatives, such as Arpitan . The evolution of Latin in Gaul
24009-474: Was held before the bishop of Pamplona (22 November), but its customary procedure and terms were altered. Protests erupted in Pamplona, but they were quelled. Philip II also grappled with the problem of the large Morisco population in the Spanish kingdoms, who had been forcibly converted to Christianity by his predecessors. In 1569, the Morisco Revolt broke out in the southern Kingdom of Granada in defiance of attempts to suppress Moorish customs. Philip ordered
24168-469: Was known in the Occitan-speaking region as Vergonha . Spoken by 19.71% of the European Union's population, French is the third most widely spoken language in the EU, after English and German and the second-most-widely taught language after English. Under the Constitution of France , French has been the official language of the Republic since 1992, although the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts made it mandatory for legal documents in 1539. France mandates
24327-402: Was largely a restatement of the 1559 Peace of Câteau-Cambrésis and Spanish forces and subsidies were withdrawn; meanwhile, Henry issued the Edict of Nantes , which offered a high degree of religious toleration for French Protestants. The military interventions in France thus failed to oust Henry from the throne or suppress Protestantism in France, and yet they had played a decisive part in helping
24486-436: Was partly the cause of the declaration of independence that created the Dutch Republic in 1581. Philip finished building the royal palace El Escorial in 1584. Deeply devout, Philip saw himself as the defender of Catholic Europe against the Ottoman Empire and the Protestant Reformation . In 1584, Philip signed the Treaty of Joinville funding the French Catholic League over the following decade in its civil war against
24645-411: Was shaped by its coexistence for over half a millennium beside the native Celtic Gaulish language , which did not go extinct until the late sixth century, long after the fall of the Western Roman Empire . The population remained 90% indigenous in origin; the Romanizing class were the local native elite (not Roman settlers), whose children learned Latin in Roman schools. At the time of the collapse of
24804-413: Was still white. The Spanish Habsburgs and their successors of the House of Bourbon continued to use the Cross of Burgundy in various forms, including as a supporter to the Royal Coat of Arms . From the time of the Bourbon king Philip V (1700–1746), the Spanish naval ensign was white and bore a royal coat of arms in the centre. The Burgundian flag was reportedly still flown as a jack ensign, that is, as
24963-424: Was such a rule necessarily possible at his time. The inefficiencies of the Spanish state and the restrictively regulated industry under his rule were common to many contemporary countries. Further, the dispersal of the Moriscos from Granada—motivated by the fear they might support a Muslim invasion—had serious negative effects on the economy, particularly in that region. Philip's foreign policies were determined by
25122-437: Was the language they use the most at home rose from 67% at the 2007 census to 74% at the 2017 census. In Wallis and Futuna, the percentage of the population who reported that French was the language they use the most at home rose from 10% at the 2008 census to 13% at the 2018 census. According to a demographic projection led by the Université Laval and the Réseau Démographie de l'Agence universitaire de la Francophonie ,
25281-459: Was the patron saint of the dukes of Burgundy. The year 1506 is the earliest use in Spain as it made an appearance on the standards carried by Philip the Handsome 's Burgundian life guards. Philip was Duke of Burgundy since 1482. After marrying Joanna of Castile , Philip became the first Habsburg King of Spain and used the Cross of Burgundy as an emblem. It was the symbol of the house of his mother, Mary of Burgundy . From 1519 to 1556, during
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