Crusader Cyprus.

Instead of giving it the ex-king of Jerusalem, Guy of Lusignan, who dies during the crusade, Richard makes Cyprus an english fief. Later it becomes a kingdom under an English dynasty. Would'nt this make the Venetian annexation virtually impossible, since Cyprus would automatically revert back to England when the ruling family became extinct?
 
Depends when the dynasty goes extinct. Personally I can't see Richard holding on to it: it was pretty useless and the populace of the island was quite hostile to him, it was better to sell it to the Templars for some much needed money rather than attempt to continue to occupy it.

If he does hold on to it though, I'm not sure it would revert to England upon the extinction of the dynasty anyways. England didn't follow a salic succession law, which allowed women to ascend the throne -- the same might apply in Cyprus. I could see if the last English Cypriot was a female, her simply marrying and passing the throne unto her children.
 
Couldn't Venice just go to war against England anyway? There wasn't much of a Royal Navy back then.
Why would they want to go to war with England in this case, though? There's a clear succession line, the diplomatic reaction from England's friends wouldn't be pleasant, and the island stays in Christian hands in any event.
 
Assuming that butterflies do not change that much the English succession, I think a good candidate to become King of Cyprus would be Richard of Cornwall, the second son of John Lackland.
 
Instead of giving it the ex-king of Jerusalem, Guy of Lusignan, who dies during the crusade, Richard makes Cyprus an english fief. Later it becomes a kingdom under an English dynasty. Would'nt this make the Venetian annexation virtually impossible, since Cyprus would automatically revert back to England when the ruling family became extinct?

Not necessarily - in order to make that work, England would have to have pretty good relations with Constantinople, regardless of who's in charge. Plus, most Cypriots belong to the Church of Cyprus, which is an autocephalous (??) Eastern Orthodox Church, which would mean that England would also have to have good relations with the Archbishop of Cyprus. From what I read, neither happened, so giving it away to the Lusignans was pretty much the best option available.
 
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