Please note that this event has ended. See our Event Calendar for current activities at the library.
Monday, September 30, 6:30pm
Presented by Carol Ann Lloyd (Carol Ann visits us via Zoom. We'll meet in the library.)
Part of our Big Read Programming Series. Open to everyone.
It’s time to explore the darker corridors of the royal courts of two of history’s most famous queens: Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots. As the two women navigated a world led mostly by men, they employed a network of “watchers” throughout all levels of European society to gather and use information to secure their power and hold onto their thrones. Once the Queen of Scots came to England, the use of ciphers and codes were used to disguise and distract plans to overthrow Elizabeth and place the Catholic Mary on the throne of England. For many years, alliances were made and shattered among nations and leaders based on gathering, sharing, hiding, and interpreting information. This period, with its spymasters and extensive networks of hidden men and messages is often called the birth of modern espionage, with methods and practices that are similar to those used today. Join us to see how the ability to control information became the most potent tool of the realm and often the only means of survival.
Carol Ann Lloyd is a popular historian and Shakespearian with expertise in Shakespeare, 16th century England, women’s lives, and leadership. She speaks globally for Smithsonian Associates, Agecroft Hall, Royal Oak Foundation, and other organizations, as well as Smithsonian Journeys and on the Queen Mary 2 and other cruise ships. Carol Ann delivers programs for business audiences about leadership, focusing on how today’s leaders can use timeless leadership principles from Shakespeare and history to achieve success in the modern world. Carol Ann is the host of the popular “Royals, Rebels, and Romantics” podcast and is the author of books, including The Tudors by Numbers, Courting the Virgin Queen, How to Build Relationships One Conversation at a Time, and Meaningful Conversations. She holds graduate degrees from the University of Virginia and University of Utah and is doing additional postgraduate work with Oxford University. Carol Ann is a member of National Speakers Association and Immediate Past President of the Washington, DC chapter.