 The language was prevalent in Catalonia and beyond during the Middle Ages, but "died as a language of culture in the early 16th century", being revived in the 19th century with the "Renaixença".The use of the language was restricted under Franco, but since then it has achieved the status of co-official language and has been actively promoted by Catalonia's government.As of 2011, 95% of the population were able to understand Catalan, and 73% could speak it.