Eliot Stein, The World's Smallest Kingdom; When he's not fishing for squid or gardening outside his squat bungalow, the king of Tavolara lords over this tiny island's 11 part-time residents and 100 nimble mountan goats. BBC, Mar 8, 2016. http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/ ... ds-smallest-kingdom
Note:
(a) Before you read the text, read this first before deciding whether it is worth your while, or consign the notion to a joke.
Tavolara Island https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tavolara_Island
(introduction: A cove and beach can be found at each end of the island, Spalmatore di Fuori at the northeast, and Spalmatore di Terra at the southwest; section 2 History)
(b) "This is where I found Antonio Bertoleoni as our ferry sputtered to a float. Better known as 'Tonino,' the 83-year-old former fisherman owns Tavolara's only restaurant and is the reigning ruler of the island, which happens to be the smallest inhabited kingdom in the world."
(i) float (n): "something that floats in or on the surface of a fluid: as * * *"
(ii) Tonino https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonino
(a diminutive of the Italian and Spanish Antonio)
(c) "Carlo Alberto, the King of Sardinia * * * confirmed that the far-flung island [Tavolara] had never officially been part of the Kingdom of Sardinia, and he sent Paolo [son of the first settler in the Tavolara island] a scroll from Carlo Alberto's royal family, the House of Savoy, that certified the monarchy's [kingdom of Tavolara's] status."
(i) Kingdom of Sardinia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Sardinia
(1324–1861; acquired by the Duke of Savoy in 1720; was the predecessor state of today's Italy [because it led unification of Italy; when it morphed into Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946 -- see (d))]
(ii) The duke was head of Duchy of Savoy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchy_of_Savoy
(Capital: Turin 1562–1713; "The Duchy was a state in the northern part of the Italian Peninsula [straddling present-day Italy and Switzerland], with some territories that are now in France" -- otherwise view map only in this Weki page)
(iii) Savoy (proper name): "of unknown origin" and meaning www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Savoy
(d) "the King of Sardinia at the time, Vittorio Emanuele II, went so far as to sign a peace treaty with the stamp-sized island’s 33 residents in 1903."
(i) This is a typo. The King of Italy in 1903 was Vittorio Emanuele III (1869 – 1947; King of Italy 1900-1946 abdicated three weeks before a successful referendum to abolish the monarchy), the only child of Umberto I (assassinated) and a grandson of Vittorio Emanuele II.
(ii) Vittorio Emanuele II https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Emmanuel_II_of_Italy
(1820 – 1878; King of Sardinia 1849 - 1861; King of Italy 1861- 1878)
(e) "Tonino's restaurant [is] adorned with the royal crest that King Paolo I first designed."
(i) crest (heraldry) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crest_(heraldry)
(the symbol or device borne on top of the helm)
(ii) However, my guess is: here, the crest means coat of arms.
crest (n):
"1a : a showy tuft or process on the head of an animal and especially a bird [original meaning]
b : the plume or identifying emblem worn on a knight's helmet * * *
c (1) : a heraldic representation of the crest * * * (3) : COAT OF ARMS" www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crest
(f) "like San Marino, Tavolara has never been formally annexed into modern Italy"