Friedrich Nerly, Greek sailors on a Venetian canal — Wikimedia Commons

When The Mediterranean Spoke The Same Language… More Or Less

Sabir was the Esperanto of the sea

Learning to speak sabir — a mix of Italian, French, Spanish, and Arabic — was essential if you were a sailor or a merchant in the Middle Ages. It also came in handy if you were an Ottoman pirate. Maybe even a banker. Or a Christian renegade hiding in Algiers. Or, unfortunately for you, a slave.