List of languages by total number of speakers
List of languages by number of native speakers
Koine Greek - Hellenistic period 323 BC – 33 BC
Latin - Roman Empire 27 BC – 476 AD into 1700s
Italian - Western Europe - Renaissance 1300 - 1700
Spanish - Spanish Empire 1500 AD - 1800 AD
French - French Empire - 1600 AD - 1800 AD
English - British Empire - 1800 AD - 1945 AD
American Globalism - 1945 AD - present
How And Why Did English Supplant French As The World’s Lingua Franca?
During the Renaissance, standard Italian was spoken as a language of culture in the main royal courts of Europe, and among intellectuals
By the 18th century, classical French usurped Latin in international treaties, starting with the Treaty of Rasstatt (1714), which marked the end of the War of Succession in Spain. This was the beginning of French as a langue diplomatique.
At present it [Spanish] is the second most used language in international trade, and the third most used in politics, diplomacy and culture after English and French.
French might have been spoken in the courts of Europe all the way to Russia — it is the language of the nobility, including Catherine II, who used it in correspondence and daily communication — but English was the language of money, and money talks louder than philosophy. The Victorian City of London was the financial center of the world and most of its business was directed outwards and overseas, not domestically.