# Outwork

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outwork
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{{short description|Type of fortification}}
[[File:Malta - Valletta - St. Michael's Bastion (Manoel Island) 01 ies.jpg|thumb|View of the [fortifications of Valletta](/source/fortifications_of_Valletta), with the main fortification (a [bastion](/source/bastion)) to the left, the [ditch](/source/Ditch_(fortification)) in the centre, and the outwork (a [counterguard](/source/counterguard)) to the right]]

An '''outwork''' is a minor [fortification](/source/fortification) built or established outside the principal fortification limits, detached or semidetached. Outworks such as [ravelin](/source/ravelin)s, [lunette](/source/Lunette_(fortification))s (demilunes), [flèche](/source/Fl%C3%A8che_(fortification))s and [caponier](/source/caponier)s to shield [bastion](/source/bastion)s and fortification curtains from direct battery were developed in the 16th century. Later, the increasing scale of warfare and the greater resources available to the besieger accelerated this development, and systems of outworks grew increasingly elaborate and sprawling as a means of slowing the attacker's progress and making it more costly. When taken by an enemy force, their lack of rear-facing ramparts left them totally open to fire from the main works.<ref>[https://www.angelfire.com/wy/svenskildbiter/madict.html ''A Dictionary of Military Architecture Fortification and Fieldworks from the Iron Age to the Eighteenth Century''] by Stephen Francis Wyley. Retrieved 23 May 2015.</ref>

An [advanced work](/source/advanced_work), a fortification detached and forward of the main castle or fortification, is sometimes referred to as a type of outwork or 'advanced outwork'.

The [hornwork](/source/hornwork) and [crownwork](/source/crownwork) are subtypes of outworks. 

==See also==
* [List of established military terms](/source/List_of_established_military_terms)

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Fortifications}}

Category:Castle architecture

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