Acorn4 wrote: I seem to recall that the figure of 70,000 executions was quoted by Hugh Trevor Roper and this worked out at 1 in 25 of the population.

Population of England in 1547 - about 3 million (ref) so 1 in 40 - not far off.

But "the often-quoted figure of 72,000 executions during his reign is inflated" according to wikiP though the source, footnote 160, is not accessible. That the inflation was Catholic propaganda is just my guess.