Also
spelled Fauss-Bray and Fausse Braie, sometimes erroneously spelled False
Bray. A parapet (usually earthen) traced parallel to the enceinte of a fortified
place between the enceinte rampart and main ditch. Its object was to increase
a fortified place's power of resistance by adding an advanced enceinte that
would have to be overpowered before a besieging army could attack the main
rampart. The position of the fausse braye between the rampart and main ditch
inhibited the defense of the ditch from the main rampart and did not materially
increase the defenders' ability to prevent an enemy's attacks from reaching
the rampart. This type of outwork had generally fallen out of use by the
end of the seventeenth century. Later attempts to restore small arms fire
capable of covering the entirety of the base of the enceinte rampart
lost by the disuse of the fausse braye can be found in the development of
the chemin des rondes and crenellated detached scarp wall.
Also
spelled Fauss-Bray and Fausse Braie, sometimes erroneously spelled False
Bray. A parapet (usually earthen) traced parallel to the enceinte of a fortified
place between the enceinte rampart and main ditch. Its object was to increase
a fortified place's power of resistance by adding an advanced enceinte that
would have to be overpowered before a besieging army could attack the main
rampart. The position of the fausse braye between the rampart and main ditch
inhibited the defense of the ditch from the main rampart and did not materially
increase the defenders' ability to prevent an enemy's attacks from reaching
the rampart. This type of outwork had generally fallen out of use by the
end of the seventeenth century. Later attempts to restore small arms fire
capable of covering the entirety of the base of the enceinte rampart
lost by the disuse of the fausse braye can be found in the development of
the chemin des rondes and crenellated detached scarp wall.
