Fun fact, everytime to see a stone sculpture of a knight on a tomb with his feet crossed, it means he was involved in pillaging and whatnot in the holly lands. So yes, they deffinietly were pillaging thieves. Just look up hoe the Doge of Venice got them to divert to nowaday Istanbul and pillaged it to repay their debt to Venice.
Nah, that's a popular myth. I too was told it as a child but I understand the real reason is much more mundane... it's easier to sculpt. Creating realistic looking legs out straight requires under-cutting and they still look kinda "off" so crossing the legs was a bit of hack to improve realism without delicate work.
