Mistress katherine kerr’s latest entry falls into the category of “Is this a dagger I see before me?”
In her words:
“I felt it my duty to help my consort present a good-looking corpse..er..combatant on the Field of Mars and so decided to make him a torse and matching lambrequin to adorn his helm and make it easier to identify him, alive or dead.
The torse and mantling are commonly depicted in heraldic illustrations, the torse being a twisted roll of fabric holding the billowing drapery of the lambrequin or mantling.
German Wappenbuchs (rolls of arms) show the use of torse and mantling in heraldry; illustrated manuscripts like the Nuremberg Tournament and Parade Album show knights riding into tournaments with torse, mantling and crests.
Album: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/22.229/
Both torse and mantling reflect Sir Radbot’s livery colours of argent and sable, with references to his rat charges in the form of a number of small metal rat charms on the torse and rat dagging on the mantling. The torse is a general match to my own consort head roll, and has a long tail of silk, as seen in the Schembert Carnivals.”
Schembert Carnival: https://publicdomainreview.org/collections/radical-fashion-from-the-schembart-carnival-1590/
https://www.lesenluminures.com/artworks/categories/4/9486-p-schembart-ldquo-hiding-beard-rdquo-carnival-book-p-c.-1540-1550/
