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".
Etymology
The word pale derives ultimately fro