This is an example of a XVI century French text: https://transcriptions-actes.pagesperso-orange.fr/16eme_siecle.html https://transcriptions-actes.pagesperso-ora

This is an example of a XVI century French text: https://transcriptions-actes.pagesperso-orange.fr/16eme_siecle.html https://transcriptions-actes.pagesperso-orange.fr/16eme_siec... Reading the original is close to impossible (but, hey, I think the same of my children's and mother's handwriting so this is not a good argument :)) The transcript si very, very difficult to read. Both the vocabulary and the grammar are significantly different from contemporary French. It is possible by carefully analyzing the text to understand the general ideas (having learned latin and liking etymology helps). The texts from the XVI-XVIII centuries we learn at school are basically translated (some words are left to pretend that the text is close to the original).