Pale (disambiguation)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A pale is a territory or jurisdiction (possibly non-territorial) under a given authority, or the limits of that jurisdiction. There is normally a strong nuance that the territory/jurisdiction beyond the "pale" is hostile.

Three jurisdictions were specifically named the "pale" :

• The Pale or the English Pale, a region in a radius of 20 miles around Dublin which the English in Ireland gradually fortified against incursion from Gaelic Ireland.
• The region around Calais while it was under English dominion (surrounded by hostile French territory).
• The area of restricted settlement in the western portions of Tsarist Russia, once designated as the "Jewish Pale". See: Pale of Settlement.

More generally, a pale can be any such jurisdiction. It can also be a non-territorial jurisdiction. An example of this use is the idea that "the Church claims no authority over unbaptized persons, as they are entirely without her pale" ^[1]

Pale may also refer to:

• Pallor, an abnormal loss of skin or mucous membrane color
• Pale (heraldry), a vertical mark in coats of arms
• Pale (town), a town in Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Pale, a river in Viljandi County, Estonia
• The Pale (Greyhawk), a fictional nation in the World of Greyhawk, a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game
• Pale (album), the second album by Toad the Wet Sprocket
• Pale (color), a light color
• The Pale (band), Irish group formed in 1990