 Old French, Old French was the language spoken in northern France from the 8th century to the 14th century. In the 14th century, these dialects came to be collectively known as the Longue Oil, contrasting with the Longue Duck or Occitan language in the south of France. The mid-14th century is taken as the transitional period to Middle French, the language of the French Renaissance, specifically based on the dialect of the Alde France region. The place and area where Old French was spoken natively roughly extended to the northern half of the Kingdom of France and its vessels including parts of the Angevan Empire, which during the 12th century remained under Anglo-Norman rule and the duchies of upper and lower Lorraine to the east. Corresponding to modern northeastern France and Belgium won it but the influence of Old French was much wider, as it was carried to England, Sicily and the Crusader states as the language of a feudal elite and of commerce.