> Cerquiglini argues that the role of French in the birth of the English language was much deeper than is generally admitted. It is the French influence, he says, that saved English from being just another variant of Dutch. As such it was French that equipped English to become the language of international communication, a state of affairs which should be celebrated as la francophonie’s greatest achievement.

This sounds like either unfalsifiable bullshit being portrayed as scholarship, or deliberate trolling by a French guy who likes French and wants to mock English-speakers. I'd have more respect for the latter, since at least that's just making fun of a more powerful neighboring culture (a fun pastime for everyone) rather than trying to assert real facts about the world.

They’re just mad they lost the “lingua Franca” of the world title so this is the way for them to hang on to the coattails of relevance. The Normans didn’t even speak Parisian French but a Breton variant and also had with them some Norse words they kept. But they can pretend.

The only thing that made French and English afterwards the lingua francas of the world was the commerce/trade and innovation offered by their speakers.

We could all be using Spanish or Chinese as the lingua Franca if either of them had more influence in the world.