I like the English - good starting position for the campaign, with the ability to get a good trading network up.
The French seem to behave as long as you have an alliance, then roll them up at your leisure, after nibbling on the Danes, Germand or Spanish.
Nicest trick I found was moving south through Denmark, to meet up with your foces moving east from Aquitaine - which gets rolled by the Holy Romans, then letting those dirty French wither on the vine.