Excom. exploit?

[Autumn]

I was just playing as Sicily and tried to lift a siege by Venice on Bologna using a nearby army. I had the pope as an ally and he had a captian stood right next to their seiging army.

So when I attacked, Venice retreated because the combined forces of my army, garrison and the Papacy were too much.

But the best bit is, they were automatically excommunicated because they'd (kinda) fought against the pope!

This seems like a bit of an exploit? I mean, your forcing the man in the hats hand to go to war... Plus slapping a Crusade on Venice the same turn felt a little bit evil :no:

Anyone else had this happen?

[PBI]

Ah, that's a good old chestnut.

It's nearly as good as playing as the Pope, such that any time you attack anyone, that faction is automatically excommunicated.

[Autumn]

Wow, really? I thought if you played as the Papacy all the Crusading and Papal election stuff got turned off?

[PBI]

Nope, it's all still there exactly like for any other catholic faction. It's as though you are appointed by the Pope to run his territory for him, rather than the Pope himself. So the Pope will still excommunicate anyone who attacks "his" territory, but you don't actually get to control decisions on Crusades, elections etc.

[Dead Guy]

This is the one reason why I never ever ally with the papacy. I think it can destroy a good campaign when all your enemies become excommunicated while you never have the same handicap. When they also get into a war with the pope that's even worse, it can really destroy a faction which has risen to power, one that I would rather challenge myself with when it has gotten to the point where it might put up some challenge.
But if you want to exploit this, following the popes fleet around with a undermanned fleet is a great way to entice your foe to go to war with the papal states. Or if he parks a fleet next to the pope. It's often more likely since the pope might not walk around your land that often, at least in my experience.