diff --git a/src/Engine.php b/src/Engine.php
index c889c5e6..d6112572 100644
--- a/src/Engine.php
+++ b/src/Engine.php
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 namespace League\Plates;
 
 use League\Plates\Extension\ExtensionInterface;
+use League\Plates\Extension\Escaper;
 use League\Plates\Template\Data;
 use League\Plates\Template\Directory;
 use League\Plates\Template\FileExtension;
@@ -56,19 +57,30 @@ class Engine
      * Create new Engine instance.
      * @param string $directory
      * @param string $fileExtension
+     * @param bool $registerEscapeFunctions Enabled by default to avoid bc-breaks
      */
-    public function __construct($directory = null, $fileExtension = 'php')
-    {
+    public function __construct(
+        $directory = null,
+        $fileExtension = 'php',
+        bool $registerEscapeFunctions = true
+    ) {
         $this->directory = new Directory($directory);
         $this->fileExtension = new FileExtension($fileExtension);
         $this->folders = new Folders();
         $this->functions = new Functions();
         $this->data = new Data();
         $this->resolveTemplatePath = new ResolveTemplatePath\NameAndFolderResolveTemplatePath();
+        if ($registerEscapeFunctions) {
+            $this->loadExtension(new Escaper());
+        }
     }
 
-    public static function fromTheme(Theme $theme, string $fileExtension = 'php'): self {
-        $engine = new self(null, $fileExtension);
+    public static function fromTheme(
+        Theme $theme,
+        string $fileExtension = 'php',
+        bool $registerEscapeFunctions = true
+    ): self {
+        $engine = new self(null, $fileExtension, $registerEscapeFunctions);
         $engine->setResolveTemplatePath(new ResolveTemplatePath\ThemeResolveTemplatePath($theme));
         return $engine;
     }
diff --git a/src/Extension/Escaper.php b/src/Extension/Escaper.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b4d6663a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Extension/Escaper.php
@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace League\Plates\Extension;
+
+use League\Plates\Engine;
+use League\Plates\Template\Template;
+
+use function htmlspecialchars;
+
+use const ENT_HTML401; // 0
+use const ENT_HTML5; // 48
+use const ENT_XHTML; // 32
+use const ENT_XML1; // 16
+
+/**
+ * Extension that adds default escaper template functions.
+ *
+ * @method string e($string, string $functions = null, int $ent_doctype = null, string $encoding = null, bool $double_encode = true)
+ */
+class Escaper implements ExtensionInterface
+{
+    /**
+     * Instance of the current template.
+     * @var Template
+     */
+    public $template;
+
+    /**
+     * The htmlspecialchars target doctype. One of ENT_HTML401, ENT_HTML5,
+     * ENT_XHTML, ENT_XML1. Defaults to ENT_HTML401 (0)
+     *
+     * @var int
+     */
+    protected $ent_doctype = ENT_HTML401;
+
+    /**
+     * The htmlspecialchars encoding charset
+     * @var string
+     */
+    protected $encoding = 'UTF-8';
+
+    /**
+     * valid ENT_* doctype constants map
+     */
+    const ENT_DOCTYPES = [
+        ENT_HTML401 => ENT_HTML401,
+        ENT_HTML5   => ENT_HTML5,
+        ENT_XHTML   => ENT_XHTML,
+        ENT_XML1    => ENT_XML1,
+    ];
+
+    public function __construct(int $ent_doctype = null, string $encoding = null)
+    {
+        if ($ent_doctype !== null) {
+            $ent_doctype = $this->parseEntDoctype($ent_doctype);
+            if (isset($ent_doctype)) {
+                 $this->ent_doctype = $ent_doctype;
+            }
+        }
+
+        if (isset($encoding)) {
+            $this->encoding = $encoding;
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Register extension functions.
+     *
+     * @param Engine $engine
+     * @return null
+     */
+    public function register(Engine $engine)
+    {
+        $engine->registerFunction('escape', array($this, 'escape'));
+        $engine->registerFunction('e', array($this, 'escape'));
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Escape string
+     *
+     * @param string $string
+     * @param string $functions Function pipe string expression
+     * @param int|null $ent_doctype Use an alternative ENT_(HTML5, XHTML, XML1) doctype constant
+     * @param string|null $encoding Use an alternative charset
+     * @param bool $double_encode
+     * @return string
+     */
+    public function escape(
+        $string,
+        string $functions = null,
+        int $ent_doctype = null,
+        string $encoding = null,
+        bool $double_encode = true
+    ): string {
+
+        if ($functions && $this->template instanceof Template) {
+            $string = $this->template->batch($string, $functions);
+        }
+
+        // Stop further processing of empty values
+        if ($string === null || $string === '') {
+            return '';
+        }
+
+        if ($ent_doctype !== null) {
+            $ent_doctype = $this->parseEntDoctype($ent_doctype);
+        }
+
+        return htmlspecialchars(
+            (string)$string, // Perform type-casting
+            ($ent_doctype ?? $this->ent_doctype) | ENT_QUOTES | ENT_SUBSTITUTE,
+            $encoding ?? $this->encoding,
+            $double_encode
+        );
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Return an ENT_* doctype constant integer value or null if the input is
+     * not a valid constant
+     *
+     * @param int $ent_doctype
+     * @return int|null
+     */
+    protected function parseEntDoctype(int $ent_doctype)
+    {
+        return self::ENT_DOCTYPES[$ent_doctype] ?? null;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Template/Template.php b/src/Template/Template.php
index db11a9f1..17d6ad0e 100644
--- a/src/Template/Template.php
+++ b/src/Template/Template.php
@@ -349,36 +349,4 @@ public function batch($var, $functions)
 
         return $var;
     }
-
-    /**
-     * Escape string.
-     * @param  string      $string
-     * @param  null|string $functions
-     * @return string
-     */
-    public function escape($string, $functions = null)
-    {
-        static $flags;
-
-        if (!isset($flags)) {
-            $flags = ENT_QUOTES | (defined('ENT_SUBSTITUTE') ? ENT_SUBSTITUTE : 0);
-        }
-
-        if ($functions) {
-            $string = $this->batch($string, $functions);
-        }
-
-        return htmlspecialchars($string ?? '', $flags, 'UTF-8');
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * Alias to escape function.
-     * @param  string      $string
-     * @param  null|string $functions
-     * @return string
-     */
-    public function e($string, $functions = null)
-    {
-        return $this->escape($string, $functions);
-    }
 }
diff --git a/tests/Extension/EscaperTest.php b/tests/Extension/EscaperTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ba845920
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Extension/EscaperTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,147 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace League\Plates\Tests\Extension;
+
+use League\Plates\Engine;
+use League\Plates\Extension\Escaper;
+use League\Plates\Template\Template;
+use org\bovigo\vfs\vfsStream;
+use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
+
+use const ENT_HTML401;
+use const ENT_HTML5;
+use const ENT_XHTML;
+use const ENT_XML1;
+
+class EscaperTest extends TestCase
+{
+    protected function setUp(): void
+    {
+    }
+
+    public function testCanCreateInstance()
+    {
+        $this->assertInstanceOf(Escaper::class, new Escaper());
+        $this->assertInstanceOf(Escaper::class, new Escaper(ENT_HTML5));
+        $this->assertInstanceOf(Escaper::class, new Escaper(ENT_XHTML));
+        $this->assertInstanceOf(Escaper::class, new Escaper(ENT_XML1));
+        $this->assertInstanceOf(Escaper::class, new Escaper(ENT_HTML401, 'ISO-8859-15'));
+    }
+
+    public function testThatEscaperIsAutoRegisteredByDefault()
+    {
+        $engine = new Engine();
+        $this->assertTrue($engine->doesFunctionExist('escape'));
+        $this->assertTrue($engine->doesFunctionExist('e'));
+    }
+
+    public function testThatEscaperAutoRegistrationCanBeBypassed()
+    {
+        $engine = new Engine(null, 'php', false);
+        $this->assertFalse($engine->doesFunctionExist('escape'));
+        $this->assertFalse($engine->doesFunctionExist('e'));
+    }
+
+    public function testDefaultHtml401EscapeFunction()
+    {
+        $string   = '<&>"\'';
+        $expected = '&lt;&amp;&gt;&quot;&#039;';
+
+        $escaper = new Escaper();
+        $this->assertSame($expected, $escaper->escape($string));
+    }
+
+    public function testHtml5EscapeFunction()
+    {
+        $string   = '<&>"\'';
+        $expected = '&lt;&amp;&gt;&quot;&apos;';
+
+        $escaper = new Escaper();
+        $this->assertSame($expected, $escaper->escape($string, null, ENT_HTML5));
+
+        $escaper = new Escaper(ENT_HTML5);
+        $this->assertSame($expected, $escaper->escape($string));
+    }
+
+    public function testXhtmlEscapeFunction()
+    {
+        $string   = '<&>"\'';
+        $expected = '&lt;&amp;&gt;&quot;&apos;';
+
+        $escaper = new Escaper();
+        $this->assertSame($expected, $escaper->escape($string, null, ENT_XHTML));
+
+        $escaper = new Escaper(ENT_XHTML);
+        $this->assertSame($expected, $escaper->escape($string));
+    }
+
+    public function testXml1EscapeFunction()
+    {
+        $string   = '<&>"\'';
+        $expected = '&lt;&amp;&gt;&quot;&apos;';
+
+        $escaper = new Escaper();
+        $this->assertSame($expected, $escaper->escape($string, null, ENT_XML1));
+
+        $escaper = new Escaper(ENT_XML1);
+        $this->assertSame($expected, $escaper->escape($string));
+    }
+
+    public function testThatDoubleEncodeIsEnabledByDefault()
+    {
+        $string   = '&lt;&amp;&gt;&quot;&apos;';
+        $expected = '&amp;lt;&amp;amp;&amp;gt;&amp;quot;&amp;apos;';
+
+        $escaper = new Escaper(ENT_HTML5);
+        $this->assertSame($expected, $escaper->escape($string));
+    }
+
+    public function testThatDoubleEncodeCanBeDisabled()
+    {
+        $escaper = new Escaper();
+
+        $string = '&lt;&amp;&gt;&quot;&apos;';
+
+        $expected = '&lt;&amp;&gt;&quot;&amp;apos;';
+        $this->assertSame($expected, $escaper->escape($string, null, null, null, false));
+
+        $expected = '&lt;&amp;&gt;&quot;&apos;';
+        $this->assertSame($expected, $escaper->escape($string, null, ENT_HTML5, null, false));
+        $this->assertSame($expected, $escaper->escape($string, null, ENT_XHTML, null, false));
+        $this->assertSame($expected, $escaper->escape($string, null, ENT_XML1, null, false));
+    }
+
+    public function testThatBatchFunctionsAreCalledFromWithinTemplate()
+    {
+        vfsStream::setup('templates');
+
+        $engine = new Engine(vfsStream::url('templates'));
+        $engine->registerFunction('tr', 'trim');
+        $engine->registerFunction('uc', 'strtoupper');
+
+        $template = new Template($engine, 'template');
+
+        vfsStream::create(
+            array(
+                'template.php' => '<?php echo $this->batch(" abc ", "tr|uc") ?>',
+            )
+        );
+
+        $this->assertSame('ABC', $template->render());
+    }
+
+    public function testThatBatchFunctionsAreSkippedIfOutsideTemplate()
+    {
+        $escaper = new Escaper(ENT_HTML5);
+
+        $engine = new Engine(null, 'php', false);
+        $engine->loadExtension($escaper);
+
+        $engine->registerFunction('tr', 'trim');
+        $engine->registerFunction('uc', 'strtoupper');
+
+        $this->assertSame('abc', $escaper->escape('abc', 'tr|uc'));
+    }
+}