Patch 1.2 also hurt stradiots because IIRC it fixed the bug where shields were not used in melee. Stradiots don't have shields, knights do. Ouch.

LOL "I got excommunicated." What did you expect to happen when you attacked the Pope. If you send a diplomat to the pope right away you can usually ally with him, it will increase your rank with him giving you a better chance of getting cardinals and therefore a Pope from your faction. But better yet, he will favor you in wars with other catholics. Therefore if you are in a war with another Catholic, he will tell you both to cease hostilities, and he will excommunicate the other guy if they violate, but he will only decrease your pope-o-meter if you violate. Let the other guy strike first and get excommed, then its Crusade time baby! Crusade against your neighbor and you can easily put all your generals in it and get them massive chivalry and command benefits. Plus the Pope will like you EVEN MORE for doing a crusade. It is not hard to keep your pope-o-meter between 8-10 if you know what you are doing, and he is the only ally worth having.