The manifer provides extra protection for the hand, wrist and forearm on the side which gets smashed by the lance... It goes over the top of the hand and vambrace on the forearm so that if you are unlucky to get a hit there, hopefully the arm isnt broken at the wrist and the hand isnt smashed.
Interresting! Is it based on historical sources, or is it a modern sports-precaution? I've discovered that hourglass-gauntlets is a must if you want to do longsword on foot, and I've come to the conclution that gauntlets that don't allow wrist movement are gauntlets meant for mounted soldiers (only two swordstrikes from horseback, acording to my knightly friends, it is because if you start angeling your wrist as you cut and the sword gets stuck, your wrist breaks. If your thingie is a historical piece, the gauntlets not allowing wrist movement could allso be for reinforcing the wrist-region if struck by a lance... think I learned somthing new!
manifer also: man•i•fer Pronunciation: (man'u-fer", -fur), [key] —n. Armor. a gauntlet for protecting the left hand when holding the reins of a horse. Also,main-de-fer. [Random House Unabridged Dictionary]
