Mary became queen in 1553 and sought to restore Catholicism in England after the Protestant reforms under her father, Henry VIII. She had hundreds of Protestants burned at the stake for their beliefs, earning her the name "Bloody Mary". By 1555, around 800 Protestants had fled England and 280 were burned at the stake in various cities and regions across the country. Mary herself died at age 42, possibly from a pituitary tumor, after reigning as a Catholic monarch who persecuted Protestants during her time on the throne.