Inquisitors - problems & solutions (was Crusading when I meet inquisitor)

[TinCow]

TinCow and Zanderpants: what\'s the going rate to call off the inquisitors then? (how much did you pay and on what campaign difficulty?)

My relations with the Pope have been rather complex and have certainly been a major factor in how this worked for me, so I will summarize the whole thing.

Playing England on H/VH

I was highly favored by the Pope, whom I had supported in the last election. The French were not liked at all, but not excommunicated. I picked off a few French settlements inbetween excommunication threats, but otherwise obeyed the rules and stayed in the Pope\'s good graces. When the Pope died, the French won the new position and I backed the loser. My standing with the Pope plummeted to 3 and the French nearly maxed out. On top of that, the Pope was only about 30 years old, meaning I was going to have to live with him for a LONG time.

Given that my only reasonable expansion possibilities were against France, I decided to just let myself be excommunicated. I attacked France, got excommunicated, and proceeded to conquer all French territories except one in Iberia. At this point, my cities were massively unhappy, I was being burned by Inquisitors left and right, I missed out on two Crusade calls (fortunately not against me), and I really needed a profitable peace badly. Given that my assassins had no chance at the Pope, I made sure my elderly King accidentally wandered into a large group of Welsh rebels.

I was instantly reconciled, but my standing with the Pope was still a horrid 2 and I was being burned. I sent a diplomat to the Vatican and offered a tribute of 1000 gold per turn for 10 turns. At the time, the Papal States showed Bankrupt in the diplomacy window. They gladly accepted and my standing instantly shot up to maximum. About 3-4 turns later, the Pope died. I had managed to stack the College with 4 English Cardinals (all of whom were promoted while I was excommunicated, interestingly) and the Pope became English.

Since the Papal States donation and the English Pope both occurred so close to one another, it is impossible for me to say how much of an effect the donation had on its own. As I said, I have not had a single trial for heresy since the donation, but it is likely a combination of the money and the English Pope. Also keep in mind, the massive standing jump I got probably had something to do with the Bankrupt status of the Papal States. I suspect that if they had been wealthy, I would not have risen quite as much.

[econ21]

... I sent a diplomat to the Vatican and offered a tribute of 1000 gold per turn for 10 turns...

Say no more - the cheque's in the post to the Vatican already.

Thanks for the rundown, TinCow.

[Djurre]

Could someone confirm my method? does it work for others?

[Saxit]

I had a spy in a neutral city (Berns) and an Inquisitor moves there and kills him..
They shouldn't be able to see spies and assassins at all imho (I had an assassin turned heretic on me as well by an inquisitor) :(