York is one of the most visited cities in England, above all for its medieval heritage - most famously the Minister and the city walls. From its foundation by the Romans in AD 71, the city grew in size and complexity with the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons and then the Vikings, but the Norman Conquest of 1066 and the arrival of William the Conqueror in 1068 was to have a significant impact on the city's future development. Drawing on a mass of unpublished excavations over the last thirty-five years, Gareth Dean shows how York developed from Viking Jorvik into one of the wealthiest cities in medieval Europe. Using archaeology to supplement the historical sources, the author pieces together a much fuller picture of life in medieval York than has previously been possible. Beginning with the changes to the topography and infrastructure of the city after the Norman Conquest, the book moves on to examine the defences of the city, its religious life, life and death for the citizens, trade and industry, and finally the changes in religious and political views in the mid-sixteenth century which marked the end of the medieval period and the start of a new era in the city's history.