Enceinte

Enceinte ofKhotyn FortressinUkraine

ThekeepofChâteau de Vincennesprotected by its own isolated enceinte

Krak des Chevaliers,a concentric castle

Enceinte(fromLatinincinctus"girdled, surrounded" ) is aFrenchterm that refers to the "main defensive enclosure of a fortification".For a castle, this is the main defensive line ofwall towersandcurtain wallsenclosing the position. For a settlement, it would refer to the main town wall with its associatedgatehouses,towers, and walls.

According to the1911Encyclopædia Britannica,the term was strictly applied to the continuous line ofbastionsand curtain walls forming "the body of the place", this last expression being often used as synonymous withenceinte.However, theoutworksordefensive wallclose to the enceinte were not considered as forming part of it. In early 20th-century fortification, the enceinte was usually simply theinnermostcontinuous line of fortifications.Inarchitecture,generally, an enceinte is thecloseor precinct of acathedral,abbey,castle,etc.

This definition of the term differs from the more common use ofenceinteas a French adjective, which means "pregnant".

Features

The enceinte may be laid out as a freestanding structure or combined with buildings adjoining the outer walls.The enceinte not only provided passive protection for the areas behind it, but was usually an important component of the defence with itswall walks(often surmounted bybattlements),embrasuresand covered firing positions.

The outline of the enceinte, with itsfortified towersand domestic buildings, shaped the silhouette of a castle. The ground plan of an enceinte is affected by the terrain. The enceintes ofhill castlesoften have an irregularpolygonalshape dictated by the topography, whilstlowland castlesmore frequently have a regular rectangular shape, as exemplified byquadrangular castles.

From the 12th century onwards, an additional enclosure called aZwingerwas often built in front of the enceinte of many European castles. This afforded an additional layer of defense as it formed a killing ground in front of the main defensive wall. Sometimes—depending on the size and type of the surrounding fortifications—several wall systems were built (e.g. as Zwingers) that could also be used to keep dogs, wild boar or bears, or even cattle in times of need. During theBaroque erait was not uncommon for these enclosures to be turned intopleasure gardensas for example in theZwinger at Dresden.

References

• Friar, Stephen (2003),The Sutton Companion to Castles,Stroud: Sutton Publishing, p. 105,ISBN978-0-7509-3994-2
• Piper, Otto(1967), "Burgenkunde. Bauwesen und Geschichte der Burgen", in Piperer, R.; et al. (eds.),Neue, verbesserte und erweiterte Auflage,Munich etc, p. 319{{citation}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

Attribution:

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911), "Enceinte",Encyclopædia Britannica,vol. 9 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, p. 368