// Familiar? :o(
Disturbingly so.
While reading more into the background of this I found an interesting nugget - a potential sidetrack to this thread, if we're not careful - on
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_badge
(Excerpt from Sicut Judaeis)
//Therefore, that they may not, under pretext of error of this sort, excuse themselves in the future for the excesses of such prohibited intercourse, we decree that such Jews and Saracens of both sexes in every Christian province and at all times shall be marked off in the eyes of the public from other peoples through the character of their dress.//
If I apply spin to that, it sounds like Pope Innocent III (who decreed this) is introducing sumptuary laws which may have led to the introduction of the burkha, hijab, niqab etc.! (I keep hearing it said that there's nothing specific about female dress code in the Qur'an but I could be wrong about that, as well).