Presenting a study of the demographic regime in towns and cities in England and elsewhere in Europe in the early-modern period (circa 1540 to circa 1700), this work examines academic debates about why urban demography appears to be radically different from that of rural areas. Much of the book's focus is on three sets of issues, the first of which concerns the relative paucity of information available about urban demography. This issue is addressed by means of a detailed case study of York, England's second city at that time, explaining how and why the individual components of the demographic regime changed, and how York's demography influenced and was influenced by its economy and society.