Mary I was Edward's elder sister. She had remained a Roman Catholic through all the years of difficulty following her father's break from Rome.

When she became Queen she wanted the country to return to Roman Catholic ways.

Many Protestants would not reconvert to Roman Catholicism and so were burned at the stake. For the number of people killed, Mary got the nickname 'bloody Mary'.

Mary died childless after six years of reign and so the crown passed to her younger sister, Elizabeth I.