William Harvey

Lore & Background

William Harvey was the eldest of nine children born to Thomas Harvey, a jurat of Folkestone who served as mayor in 1600, and his wife Joan Halke. Thomas Harvey was described as an overall calm, diligent, and intelligent man whose sons made him treasurer of their wealth. William's initial education was in Folkestone, where he learned Latin, then he entered the King's School (Canterbury) for five years. He matriculated at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge in 1593, graduating as a Bachelor of Arts in 1597. He then travelled through France and Germany to Italy, entering the University of Padua in 1599. During his years there, he developed a relationship with Fabricius and read Fabricius's De Venarum Ostiolis. Harvey graduated as a Doctor of Medicine at age 24 from Padua on 25 April 1602, having conducted himself so wonderfully well that he far surpassed the great hopes his examiners had formed of him. After graduating, Harvey returned to England, obtained a Doctor of Medicine from Cambridge that same year, and became a fellow of Gonville and Caius College. He established himself in London, joining the Royal College of Physicians on 5 October 1604. A few weeks later he married Elizabeth Browne, daughter of a medical doctor; they had no children. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians on 5 June 1607, earning the post-nominal letters FRCP. On 14 October 1609 he succeeded Dr Wilkinson as Physician in charge at St Bartholomew's Hospital, a post he occupied for almost all the rest of his life. His oath enjoined him 'in God's most holy name' to do his best for the poor and take no gift or reward for his counsel. He earned around thirty-three pounds a year and lived in a small house in Ludgate. Harvey was appointed Lumleian lecturer on 4 August 1615, beginning his lectures in April 1616. At age thirty-seven he was described as 'a man of lowest stature, round faced; his eyes small, round, very black and full of spirit; his hair as black as a raven and curling.' His lecture notes, preserved in the British Museum, laid down canons including 'To cut up as much as may be in the sight of the audience' and 'Not to praise or dispraise other anatomists, for all did well.' He became Physician Extraordinary to King James I on 3 February 1618. In 1628 he published in Frankfurt his completed treatise on the circulation of the blood, De Motu Cordis. As a result of negative comments by other physicians he 'fell mightily in his practice', but was re-elected Censor of the College of Physicians in 1629 and eventually elected Treasurer. Harvey was a prominent sceptic regarding allegations of witchcraft. In 1632, while travelling with the King to Newmarket, he investigated a woman accused of being a witch. He told her he was a wizard, asked about her familiar, watched her call a toad with a saucer of milk, then killed and dissected the toad, concluding it was a perfectly ordinary animal. In 1634 he was one of the examiners of four women from Lancashire accused of witchcraft, and as a consequence of his report all were acquitted. At age fifty-two, Harvey accompanied the Duke of Lennox abroad for three years during the Mantuan War and Plague, writing to Viscount Dorchester about the misery and desolation he witnessed. He returned to England in 1632 and accompanied King Charles I as Physician in Ordinary, using deer carcasses from the king's hunting expeditions for observations. He returned to Italy in October 1636, dining at the English College, Rome, as a guest of the Jesuits. During the English Civil War a mob of citizen-soldiers opposed to the King entered Harvey's lodgings, stole his goods, and scattered his possessions.

Reader's Guide

William Harvey's significance rests on his complete and detailed description of pulmonary and systemic circulation, establishing the heart as the pump sending blood to the brain and the rest of the body. This work, published in 1628 as De Motu Cordis, fundamentally transformed understanding of human physiology, though earlier writers such as Realdo Colombo, Michael Servetus, and Jacques Dubois had provided precursors. Harvey's career included service as Lumleian lecturer beginning in April 1616, where his lecture notes laid out methodical canons for anatomical demonstration. He served as Physician Extraordinary to King James I from 3 February 1618 and later as Physician in Ordinary to King Charles I. Despite negative comments from other physicians that caused his practice to fall, he continued advancing, being re-elected Censor of the College of Physicians in 1629 and eventually elected Treasurer. Harvey was a prominent sceptic in witchcraft trials: in 1632 he investigated a woman by dissecting her toad and concluding it was ordinary, and in 1634 his examination of four Lancashire women led to their acquittal. His three-year journey abroad with the Duke of Lennox during the Mantuan War and Plague produced a vivid letter describing 'so much misery and desolation, poverty and famine.' During the English Civil War, a mob opposed to the King entered his lodgings and stole his goods. Harvey's work remains a cornerstone of modern medicine, with his lecture notes preserved in the British Museum.

Did You Know?

• Harvey graduated as a Doctor of Medicine at age 24 from the University of Padua on 25 April 1602, having far surpassed the great hopes his examiners had formed of him.
• He was described at age thirty-seven as 'a man of lowest stature, round faced; his eyes small, round, very black and full of spirit; his hair as black as a raven and curling.'
• In 1632, Harvey investigated a woman accused of witchcraft by telling her he was a wizard, watching her call a toad with a saucer of milk, then killing and dissecting the toad to prove it was ordinary.
• Harvey earned around thirty-three pounds a year as Physician at St Bartholomew's Hospital and lived in a small house in Ludgate.
• During the English Civil War, a mob of citizen-soldiers opposed to the King entered Harvey's lodgings, stole his goods, and scattered his possessions.