During the Ottoman era, the so-called Regencies, or Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, frequently spoke the Italian-based pidgin known as "Lingua Franca." It was in use from the 16th century until the French occupation of Algiers in 1830. Hugo Schuchardt, a renowned German linguist, was the first academic to tackle the subject in a 1909 paper. He gathered several documents written in this language, tracked its history, and depicted its characteristics.
Despite this, numerous myths about this language persisted long after the publishing of his writings, such as the notion that it was widely spoken in the Mediterranean or that it was spoken during the Crusader era. Recent research from the twenty-first century implies that this was not the case, based on certain fresh writings and materials.
But why was a pidgin like this made at that time? I have a theory on population movement. Italian was then the most significant language in Europe, and it was used to communicate among speakers of other tongues. However, on the southern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, it was despised since it was seen as the primary language of Christianity. However, the Maghreb nations were teeming with people who could speak Italian or a language that was closely connected to it. Communities of Sefardi Jews, Tagarins, and Moriscos existed, and many of the Turks who ruled the Regencies were outlaws from southern Europe.