Protestants were executed in England under heresy laws during the reigns of Henry VIII (1509–1547) and Mary I (1553–1558). Radical Christians also were executed, though in much smaller numbers, during the reigns of Edward VI (1547–1553), Elizabeth I (1558–1603), and James I (1603–1625). The excesses of this period were recorded in Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Protestants in England and Wales were executed under legislation that punished anyone judged guilty of heresy against Catholicism. Although the standard penalty for those convicted of treason in England at the time was execution by being hanged, drawn and quartered, this legislation adopted the punishment of burning the condemned. At least 280 people were recognised as burned over the five years of Mary I's reign by contemporary sources. Historical context English Reformation The English Reformation had put a stop to Catholic ecclesiastical governance in England, asserted royal supremacy over the English Church and dissolved some church institutions, such as monasteries and chantries. An important year in the English Reformation was 1547, when Protestantism became a new force under the child-king Edward VI, England's first Protestant ruler. Edward died at age 15 in 1553. His relative Lady Jane Grey claimed the throne but was deposed by Edward's Catholic half-sister, Mary I. Persecution of Protestants under Mary I (1553–1558) The relationship between the English church and Rome was restored at the accession of Queen Mary I to the English throne in 1553. With her repeal of all religious legislation passed under Edward VI, Protestants faced a choice: exile, reconciliation/conversion, or punishment. Many people were exiled, and hundreds of dissenters were burned at the stake, earning her the nickname of "Bloody Mary". The number of people executed for their faith during the persecutions is thought to be at least 287, including 56 women. Thirty others died in prison. Although the so-called "Marian Persecutions" began with four clergymen, relics of Edwardian England's Protestantism, Foxe's Book of Martyrs offers an account of the executions, which extended well beyond the anticipated targets – high-level clergy. Tradesmen were also burned, as well as married men and women, sometimes in unison, "youths" and at least one couple was burned alive with their daughter. The figure of 300 victims of the Marian Persecutions was given by Foxe and later by Thomas Brice in his poem, "The Regester". English Inquisition and the judicial process However bloody the end, the trials of Protestant heretics were judicial