El Prencipicu — in Leonese.
Leonese is a Romance language spoken historically in the region of León in northwestern Spain (the modern provinces of León, Zamora, and Salamanca). It is one of the Astur-Leonese languages, along with Asturian (spoken in Asturias) and Mirandese (spoken in Portugal). Leonese is closely related to Asturian, and together they form the Astur-Leonese linguistic group, which evolved from Vulgar Latin. The current number of Leonese speakers is estimated at 20,000 to 50,000.
During the medieval period, the Kingdom of León was a prominent Christian kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula. The Leonese language played a significant role in the cultural and administrative life of the kingdom. It was used for religious texts, legal documents, and literary works. Like other regional languages in Spain, the use of Leonese declined with the political and administrative dominance of Castilian (Spanish). Castilian gradually became the dominant language in official domains, education, and literature.
