On: French was the official language of England from 1066 till 1362

[eesmith]

Ahh, thank you. But French wasn't the official language of Russia, right?

[clarionbell → eesmith]

Concept of official language is a very new thing. At least in it's current form. It's kind of like 'state' it sort of fits on older institutions, but isn't an exact fit.

[eesmith → clarionbell]

Yes. That is why I made the top-level comment - I think the author should have highlighted what made it "official" some 1,000 years ago.