concerning the pope...

[Nerdymidgetkid]

So far it is 1215 and the second crusade has just finished. I have tried to take part in it and its predecessor (as England) but when I try to get an army there most of them desert before I get to the straits of Gibraltar. In the First Crusade I kept sailing until I had 1 unit left. In the Second one, once I'd lost half of my men I turned my ships around. But as soon as I dropped the cross, all the rest of them (except the knights) decided to go on without me! (Maybe they then deserted themselves?)

This whole thing leads to even more trouble for me though. You see, in the First Crusade the French got an army (made up of peasents, just like mine) to Jerusalem and took it. That got them in the Pope's good books and now, a Pope later, there are 3 French Cardinals in the Church and no English ones. France declared war and the Pope kept sending me orders not to attack the French. The French, however, still freely attacked me. Looks like the Holy Roman Empire were told the same; but they attacked France I think and were thrown out of the Church. Just this year the French asked for peace and I accepted, but I want to even this up a bit, so how do I? And if it is necessary, can I/how do I, er, remove the Frech Cardinals?

[demfl]

Once on the ships going to Jerusalem make sure you highlight all the ships "ctrl A" and sail them just short of the furthest the green allows, sometimes u will able to repeat , all the way to Africa. Honestly don't worry about desertion because once near Jerusalem u can recruit a boatload of unhorse knights and top of the line spearmen. I had the same problem as England but remember even if your General is the only one left you can recruit a full 19 stacks of superior troops like unhorse knight, crusade knight etc once on land directly in front of Jerusalem.


I have never listened to the pope warnings. At the very start of the game you should've allied with the pope. After, you can moniter your relationship with him and gift him before and after attacking catholic factions, even with the warnings, i have never been excom with this message, only lose influence that is quickly gained back with a meagre 1000 florin. Learn the game mechanics.

[Nerdymidgetkid]

By alliance with the Pope, do you mean with the Papal states? And what do you mean by gifts? (Money?) However my current problem is the French Cardinals, cause when one dies the other 2 will get another Frenchman elected, and even though my standing with the Pope is much higher than France's (I didn't realise the full extent of the uses building Churches) I was victorious in my last war with France and if I can cut off their support from the Pope they can remain a vassal state of my Allies (the Danish) without being any threat. So, is there a way I can deal with this situation? Hopefully because of the good standing with the Pope of myself and my allies we can seize a lot of power if I can rid myself of the French Cardinals

[demfl]

Yes, always form an alliance with the pope asap, he will always accept early if you aren't at war with anyone, even if you play as a Muslim faction. Yes you can gift the pope in increments of 100 florin, this will allow you to stay very high on the pope meter. The french pope won't matter if you keep your relations perfect with the new pope. Just make sure you have more crosses than the French.

[Nerdymidgetkid]

Problem is, the Pope currently thinks the light shines out of France's butcrack (they have full crosses) and he doesn't like me as much as the old one did (who also didn't like France and liked my allies as well) My diplomat is going to Italy now, hopefully I can even this out. Thanks for all the help man

[Myth]

On Crusades in vanilla:

1. Always make sure to call the crusade yourself. You do that by bribing the pope with 3-4 thousand florins and giving him an alliance. As England I recommend crusading for Cordoba, as it's closer. Just prior to taking the target city you can have your generals back at home and their armies join. They will still get the traits and the armies will get the chevrons.
2. Only you suffer desertion, the AI does not. To avoid it, make sure you have always moved as close as possible towards the crusade target city. You do not suffer desertion for keeping a prolonged siege on the target city, or if you lay siege to another city for a turn or two. It's common practice to take several cities on the way to the crusading target.
3. You get good Papal standing for allying with Catholic kingdoms and for fighting Muslims, as well as doing papal missions, winning/participating in crusades and of course, bribing the Pope. If you need to fight Scotland or France (which you do), do what you must and then make good with his Holiness by filling his pockets. Works every time.
4. Assassins will kill enemy Cardinals. If you want to have your own, make all your priests (I usually get 12-15) and dump them in the Moorish controlled Spain to convert Cordoba and it's surrounding settlements to Catholic. They grow very fast in piety and turn into a group of super-Cardinals. After that is done, send them to Jerusalem and the other cities in the Holy Lands. You will always have an English pope after that, especially if you take out Scotland and France.