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Lots of good data, only a couple issues... I question is the idea that the plate worn by mounted knights was as light as proposed recently. I've read several period accounts of battle or tourney where knights were unable to stand after being knocked off their horse. Of course it's possible they just had the wind knocked out of them, but that's not how the accounts seemed to portray it. There ARE historical drawings of the tripod crane contraptions that lifted knights onto their chargers (unless the ones I've seen were forgeries, wish I had references handy)... it seems unlikely they were needed because the knights were too lazy to mount up on their own, either the range of motion afforded by the armors joints was limited or the armor was heavy.
The Islamic nations did lose a lot of territory... but they conquered a lot too. The Crusades were ultimately a failure for Western Civilization, and even during the period of occupation I seem to recall that the Europeans were confined to relatively small enclaves along the coast. I've read that at least partial motivation for the crusades was a fear of growing Islamic power, especailly with the success of the Turks. Large swaths of Christendom were systematically conquered by the armies of Islam... up to and including Constantinople (although it took them quite a while to crack that nut) which I believe was in its decline at the time but a very important city nonetheless. I don't have a map in front of me but I seem to recall that during a period when European powers were confined to... well... Europe, the power of Islam extended from Gibraltar (sp?) all the way to India, north into Spain and Russia and south into Africa.
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