Virtual Museum of New France Virtual Museum of New France The Virtual Museum of New France () is a virtual museum created by the Canadian Museum of History. Its purpose is to share knowledge and raise awareness of the history, culture and legacy of early French settlements in North America. The site includes interactive maps, photos, illustrations and information based on current research into New France. This encompasses the French settlements and territories that spread from Acadia in the East through the Saint Lawrence Valley, the Great Lakes region, the Ohio Valley, and south to Louisiana from the 16th to the 18th centuries. The content
Early modern France of France was a collection of different dialects called Oïl languages whereas the written and administrative language remained Latin. By the 16th century, there had developed a standardised form of French (called Middle French) which would be the basis of the standardised "modern" French of the 17th and 18th century which in turn became the lingua franca of the European continent. (In 1539, with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts, Francis I of France made French alone the language for legal and juridical acts.) Nevertheless, in 1790, only half of the population spoke or understood standard French. The southern half of the