Pale

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For other uses, see Pale (disambiguation).

"Beyond the pale" redirects here. For the fantasy novel, see The Last Rune.

A pale is a territory or jurisdiction (possibly non-territorial) under a given authority, or the limits of such a jurisdiction. The term was often used in cases where the territory or jurisdiction outside the pale was considered hostile.

The most famous pale was in Ireland in the 14th and 15th centuries, and was known simply as the Pale, or as the English Pale. This was a region in a radius of twenty miles around Dublin which the English gradually fortified against incursion from Gaelic Ireland.

Other pales include:

• The region around Calais while it was under English dominion (surrounded by hostile French territory).
• The Pale of Settlement, an area in the western portions of Tsarist Russia, in which Jews were permitted to settle.

The word can also be used to describe the (limits of) jurisdiction of non-territorial authorities, for example, "the Church claims no authority over unbaptized persons, as they are entirely without her pale".^[1]

[edit] Etymology

The word pale derives ultimately from the Latin word palus, meaning stake. (Palisade is derived from the same root.) From this came the figurative meaning of 'boundary', and the concept of a pale as an area within which local laws were valid.^[2]

[edit] Beyond the pale

The phrase "beyond the pale", meaning to go beyond the limits of law or decency, was in use by the mid-17th century. It can also mean beyond sympathy, beyond protection, or having crossed a (figurative) line.

The phrase is possibly a reference to the general sense of boundary, not to any of the particular pales that bore that name,^[3] although in the British Isles it is popularly understood to be a reference to the Pale in Ireland.

American comedian Jim Gaffigan has released an album titled "Beyond the Pale", so named for his fair skin.

[edit] References

1. ^ Fanning, William H.W. (1907). Baptism. The Catholic Encyclopedia. Retrieved on 2006-08-27.
2. ^ Wilton, David. Etymologies & Word Origins. Wordorigins.org. Retrieved on 2006-08-27.
3. ^ Freeman, John (1963). Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. New York: Harper & Row.