Heresy?

[wonderless]

I'm playing as the Holy Roman Empire, and in the past 10 turns or so, I've gone through more than 5 emperors because they're all being burned for heresy. But I'm confused. (This game has really screwed me over, what with Venice betraying me and taking all my provinces..) So I have three provinces left, and they all have some sort of church, so why are my emperors being burned? Am I getting something wrong, am I misinterpreting the definition of heresy? If not, how can I fix it?

And also, what exactly is a vassal? At first I assumed it was a good thing when Venice offered me to become their vassal, but they betrayed me again, and they asked me to be their vassal after they betrayed me, so I declined. Why do they get upset when I want them to be MY vassal? Thanks in advance.

[Emperor of The Great Unknown]

vassel means they rule over you.

if your HRE you have bad relations with the Pope so they hate you.

the more piety your generals have the less likely they will be burned.

how did you lose 3 regions to venice?

[Imperator Romani]

Vassal is the opposite of Protectorate of up if you played RTW.

HRE hated by Pope.

Keep your Generals away from them.

And to answer above statement: He's the HRE. Many enemies, and if you mess up you're in a mess.

[wonderless]

Well at the beginning of the game, we were totally neutral, and me being stupid as I am, I forgot all about diplomacy, especially because they're so close. (Doesn't make sense, right? I don't like to become allies with other nations right at the get-go. First I try trade rights, then military access, then map information, etc.) Well one day they just decided to besiege my closest province to them, and they didn't get it at first. But they kept sending more armies, and eventually they got it. I was spending too much money on trying to defend that one province that I became close to bankruptcy. Then when they decided to try and take more of my regions up north, I couldn't defend myself very well. And they kept breaking alliances, with me and other nations, too.

I think I might quit this one. I'm way to bankrupt now. No matter what I do, I'm just losing more and more money each turn.

[Imperator Romani]

Post your problem in this nifty thread I made. It's what it's for anyway.

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=278894

[Double A]

Ok deep breath...

As the HRE, every one will hate you from the start since your rank is 3 on the Pope-o-meter. Never let it get to 0-2 or everyone, including those that are your friends, will attack you due to the Crusade on your capital.

Diplomacy is 95% the same as in Rome, except map info is actually exchangeable. And in the diplomacy menu you get to see your reputation (higher the easier it is to make deals but you won't have any fun) and your relations with other factions. When opening relations for the first time, ask for map info and trade rights. Always offer map info, and if you're large enough you can ask for anywhere between a few hundred florins to a few grand. Alliances are good, but not with factions you don't trust. Spain, England, Russia, and Sicily are good since at least one of them will always be at war with one of your main enemies, France, Milan, Venice, Danes, Poland, and Hungary, making the game easier. Byzies are also always at war with Venice, but you may want Constantinople later, so backstabing may be necessary. While we're on the topic, ally with the Pope until you're large enough to fend off several stacks and then take Rome. Give him upper Scandinavia so he won't be too pissed. Military access is only for your most trusted allies, and the AI always wants something big for it. Like 20000 florins. Also you can only get or give it in an alliance.

NEVER trust a Northern Italian faction. Milan is the most treacherous faction in the game, followed closely by Venice and then Hungary. Sicily won't even bother with you unless you take Tunis, Sardinia or Corsica, so just ignore them or ask for an alliance.

Under no circumstances should you ever become a vassal. It's worse than losing since it cripples your economy to a halt (unless you don't mind that). The only good thing is you have an ally that won't backstab you (since you're paying him off every ing turn) and "helps" you in wars (blockading a port doesn't count).

[Silent Assassin]

I'm playing as the Holy Roman Empire, and in the past 10 turns or so, I've gone through more than 5 emperors because they're all being burned for heresy. But I'm confused. (This game has really screwed me over,.

OK please do yourself a favor download and install the patches, by the looks of it you seem be playing the original, unpatched game. In the unptached game the inquisitor's were a real pain.

[Nazgûl Killer]

Wonder, Rebel is right.
Download all the existing patches, it will fix up your game, it seems to me your campaign just got screwed over.
HOWEVER! Do not stop! Try again with the HRE or continue with this one, and I will refer you to my own guide (In my signature) and Rebel's guide (In his signature) - I assure you, they will help you in your plight.

As the HRE, you have very bad relations with the Papacy (Historical reasons), and those little inquisitors LOVE targeting you, so to counter them you need to build a lot of priests and assassins.
Going on a crusade once in a while won't hurt either.