I am currently reading “The May Bride” by Suzanna Dunn, aside from her usage of the word “bloke” which wasn’t known until the 19th century, and Katherine Fillol addressing the Seymour parents and Mr and Mrs Seymour, I am quite enjoying it.
However this got me thinking about the scandal between Katherine Fillol and Sir John Seymour. Is it entirely possible that Sir John admitted to an affair between Katherine and himself to protect the real culprit behind the affair? An affair which would put their career in court at jeopardy?
Strangely this is something I can see Thomas doing, I don’t think there was any love lost between Edward and Thomas and I believe that Thomas was jealous, perhaps insanely so, of Edward.
Edward may not of been that popular at court but people had to admit, when he was asked to do something he generally got the job done.Thomas was impetuous and didn’t always look before he leapt headlong into danger. His marriage to K.P a bare 4 months after the death of P.B was a show of just how impetuous and reckless his behaviour could be and it certainly did either him or K.P any good. His subsequent behaviour towards Elizabeth showed just how out of control he really was. I believe he tried to rape Elizabeth, and she was able to fight him off or Kat Ashley came to the rescue upon hearing Elizabeth’s screams for help. And let’s not forget he also proposed to Mary Tudor as well as Elizabeth before he settled for K.P, despite saying he had been madly in love with her long before P.B cast his beady eyes upon her.
I also believe that as young as King Edward was, he could see exactly how dangerous Thomas was, and what would happen if he (King Edward) gave Thomas any form of real power as it was certain that Thomas would exploit any situation to gain power over his brother Edward.
King Edward had no real liking for either of them, as he probably felt like he was a dog’s bone which one of them was always trying to get and keep control of. The only man he seemed to like (family) was his step uncle William Parr, who he referred to as his “most beloved uncle”
It’s highly possible that P.B could see what a danger Thomas was, hence the reason P.B sent him packing from the court with a flea in his ear for a while, whilst P.B was wooing (ha ha ha ha) K.P.
I believe the easiest way to explain Edward and Thomas’s relationship is that of Kane and Abel, and like Kane and Abel they did end up destroying each other.
I don’t think Henry would have been the one to have slept with Katherine, (although stranger things have been know to happen) as he didn’t seem to have the thirst for power that either Edward or Thomas had, or the vindictiveness that Thomas had over every little word of praise that came Edward’s way.
But equally so, he may have chosen to keep as low as profile as possible to live down the shame that such a scandal would have caused. By choosing to keep a low profile and not aim for the wealth and position his brothers had, he could hope that the real truth behind the scandal would never leak out.
The price (and punishment) of keeping the Fillol scandal as it was claimed by his father was making sure that Henry never rose the heights of power as his brothers did.
Although he was made a Knight of the bath shortly after his nephew Edward V1 came to the throne, and held a number of posts in his time at court, but he was happy to live in obscurity and played no part in the power games between Thomas/Edward/Dudley. In fact he faired better when Dudley took control of the young King and the realm after Edward’s execution in 1552. He went on to serve the last 2 Tudor monarchs dying in 1578.

I believe the Edward rated his sons by Katherine (at the insistence of his wife Ann) as below the sons of the Seymour/Stanhope marriage, but knighted his eldest son Edward by Katherine, on the battlefield of Pinkie Cluegh in September 1547, so I’m guessing he had some affection (albeit secretly) for the Fillol sons. The irony here is that despite Ann’s insistence that the title of Duke of Somerset should pass to the sons of their marriage, the current Duke of Somerset is a direct descendent of the Seymour/Fillol marriage. The Seymour/Stanhope line dying out with Algenon the 7th Duke of their line, in 1750.
How did Jane feel about the whole scandal between her father and Katherine? Did she try to help Katherine’s children?
Or
Did she air brush them out of her memory?
How well did Jane and Katherine get along?
Did this scandal damage the relationship between John and Margery Seymour?