The crusade bit was just general info, added for anyone new to the faction really.

The patches mainly add bug fixes and tweak the AI a little, nothing dramatic.
For a more signifigant challenge you might want to try the full mods. BKBs Supermod, VikingHordes XL Mod and Wes' Medmod are the three major ones that keep to the Medieval setting. They all involve major changes to factions, untis and the campaign map AI. Have a look at the respective threads in the modding dojo for more.

If you have only 10 provinces, then that may be part of the problem. AI aggression is at least partially linked to the size of your Empire, it's most noticeable when you conquer 60% of the map but I think it may be a scaleable factor.
You could just wage war of your own accord rather than waiting for the AI to see you as a threat.
I never understood why the French were ranked as hard difficulty. In the very first years you can be crushed by an aggressive combination of England and the HRE/Spain, but once you've managed the first few decades and expanded troop production a little, the precariousness is gone. I find them a pretty easy faction, good potential bottlenecked borders and an acceptable troop roster.

Try the HRE, they're quite a bit more challenging I found.