u/Pretty_Stranger1287

So if one travels back in time to the 14th-15th century and could know only one language, which one would you choose so that you could speak with the most amount of people and/or the most diverse people (so covering the most geographical space)? Does it differ between the two centuries? And does it differ if you were like a merchant and a scholar? So for example, a language where I would be able to communicate with scientists/scholars from the most regions (name the regions if that's possible). I know that it isn't a straightforward answer and that each region had one, but if someone could talk about the different ones for each region and then maybe choose one, that would be great!