provoke

Is there a way to provoke a faction to attack you.

Withdraw your border armies to a hinterland province, where the AI can't see them. Leave only minimal garrisons in your border provinces, let the AI attack you and then retaliate, smite the heathen/heretic/infidel and chastise them mightily.

If you are worrying about excommunication from the Pope, there is a work around to this. Attack a neighbouring faction other then the one you really have in mind conquering (attack with one unit and retreat it just to declare war). When the Pope warns you to withdraw your armies and leave them in peace for 10 years, he cannot warn you for those 10 years against any other faction.

Then prepare your armies and attack your real target without the Pope on your back.

Change faction behaviour in the relevant files to _agressive or _expantionist. Doesn't help though if you only want them to attack you.

Does anybody know if holding GA rewarding provinces lures the AI to try to retake them?

/KotR

I was thinking of attacking poland then get the warning then attack HRE.

I guess this all depends on your situation and what you are trying to accomplish. If you want to start a war with a smaller Catholic faction and avoid the excomm, you should do the fake attack gollum mentioned. If you want to start a war with a bigger Catholic faction, you could pretty much attack without worry (the bigger faction gets the warning, not the instigator).

Well I am the biggest at the moment. The second biggest faction is the Byzantines.