I got it, I played for 20 min at work, 3rd crusade bookmark as Jerusalem. The council wasn't that hard to manage, but I got wafflestomped by a jihad, I simply didn't have enough piety to recruit the Teutonic Order alongside the Templars and Hospitalliers. Perhaps a religious focus is mandatory for this scenario, I'll try again.

The new mechanics will be insteresting when I finally get to playing as Charlemagne or one of the Byzantine emperors. I'll also try the Mongols.