E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Cross-legged Knights
indicate that the person so represented died in the Christian faith. As crusaders were supposed so to do, they were generally represented on their tombs with crossed legs.
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“Sometimes the figure on the tomb of a knight has his legs crossed at the ankles, this meant that the knight went one crusade. If the legs are crossed at the knees, he went twice; if at the thighs he went three times.”—Ditchfield: Our Villeges, 1889.
