Editing William Harvey (section)

== Biography ==
=== Early life and the University of Padua ===
Harvey's initial education was carried out in Folkestone, where he learned [[Latin]]. He then entered the [[King's School, Canterbury|King's School]] ([[Canterbury]]). Harvey stayed at the King's School for five years, after which he [[matriculated]] at [[Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge]] in 1593.

Harvey graduated as a Bachelor of Arts from Caius in 1597.<ref>{{acad|id=HRVY593W|name=Harvie, William}}</ref> He then travelled through France and Germany to Italy, where he entered the [[University of Padua]], in 1599.

During Harvey's years of study there, he developed a relationship with [[Hieronymus Fabricius|Fabricius]] and read Fabricius's ''De Venarum Ostiolis''.

Harvey graduated as a Doctor of Medicine at the age of 24 from the University of Padua on 25 April 1602. Harvey had

<blockquote>conducted himself so wonderfully well in the examination and had shown such skill, memory and learning that he had far surpassed even the great hopes which his examiners had formed of him.{{sfn|Power|1897|pp=26–27}}</blockquote>

=== The College of Physicians, marriage and Saint Bartholomew's Hospital ===
After graduating from Padua, Harvey immediately returned to England, where he obtained the degree of Doctor of Medicine from the [[University of Cambridge]] that same year, and became a fellow of [[Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge]]. Following this, Harvey established himself in London, joining the [[Royal College of Physicians]] on 5 October 1604.

A few weeks after his admission, Harvey married Elizabeth Browne, "daughter of [[Lancelot Browne]] Dr. Physic" (a medical doctor).{{sfn|Power|1897|p=29}} They had no children.<ref>{{Cite web |title=William Harvey {{!}} Biography, Education, Experiments, Discoveries, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Harvey |access-date=2024-08-30 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

Harvey was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians on 5 June 1607, which earned him the [[Post-nominal letters]] FRCP.{{sfn|Power|1897|p=31}} He then accepted a position at [[St Bartholomew's Hospital]] that he was to occupy for almost all the rest of his life. Succeeding Dr Wilkinson on 14 October 1609, he became the Physician in charge at [[St Bartholomew's Hospital|St&nbsp;Bartholomew's Hospital]], which enjoined him, "in God's most holy name" to "endeavor yourself to do the best of your knowledge in the profession of physic to the poor then present, or any other of the poor at any time of the week which shall be sent home unto you by the Hospitaller... You shall not, for favor, lucre or gain, appoint or write anything for the poor but such good and wholesome things as you shall think with your best advice will do the poor good, without any affection or respect to be had to the apothecary. And you shall take no gift or reward... for your counsel... This you will promise to do as you shall answer before God... "{{sfn|Power|1897|pp=35–36}}

Harvey earned around thirty-three pounds a year and lived in a small house in [[Ludgate]], although two houses in [[West Smithfield]] were attached as fringe benefits to the post of Physician. At this point, the physician's function consisted of a simple but thorough analysis of patients who were brought to the hospital once a week and the subsequent writing of prescriptions.{{sfn|Power|1897|pp=36–37}}

=== Lumleian lecturer ===

The next important phase of Harvey's life began with his appointment to the office of [[Lumleian lectures|Lumleian lecturer]] on 4 August 1615.<ref>{{cite journal |title=De Motu Cordis: the Lumleian Lecture of 1616: an imagined playlet concerning the discovery of the circulation of the blood by William Harvey. |journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine |volume=100 |issue=4 |pages=199–204 |pmid=17404345 |pmc=1847732 |year=2007 |last1=Silverman |first1=M. E. |doi=10.1177/014107680710011419 }}</ref> The Lumleian lectureship, founded by [[John Lumley, 1st Baron Lumley|Lord Lumley]] and Dr. [[Richard Caldwell]] in 1582, consisted in giving lectures for a period of seven years, with the purpose of "spreading light" and increasing the general knowledge of [[anatomy]] throughout England.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Davis|first=Frank|date=2000|title=Shakespeare's medical knowledge: how did he acquire it?|journal=The Oxfordian, Annual|volume=3|pages=45|via=Gale Cengage Academic OneFile}}</ref>

Harvey began his lectures in April 1616,<ref>{{cite journal |title=A Harvey Anniversary |issue=14 |pages=1524 |url=https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2512771 |journal=JAMA |volume=315 |doi=10.1001/jama.2015.17081 |pmid=27115281 |date=12 April 2016 }}</ref> and also compiled his lecture notes in a notebook.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wright |first=Thomas Edward |url= |title=William Harvey: A Life in Circulation |date=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-993169-9 |pages=118 |language=en}}</ref> At this time, at the age of 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".{{sfn|Power|1897|p=52}} The notes which he used at the time are preserved in the [[British Museum]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Willis |first1=Robert |title=Modern History Sourcebook: William Harvey (1578–1657): On The Motion Of The Heart And Blood In Animals, 1628 |url=https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1628harvey-blood.asp |website=Fordham University}}</ref>

At the beginning of his lectures, Harvey laid down the canons for his guidance:

#"To show as much as may be at a glance, the whole belly for instance, and afterwards to subdivide the parts according to their positions and relations.
#To point out what is peculiar to the actual body which is being dissected.
#To supply only by speech what cannot be shown on your own credit and by authority.
#To cut up as much as may be in the sight of the audience.
#To enforce the right opinion by remarks drawn far and near, and to illustrate man by the structure of animals.
#Not to praise or dispraise other anatomists, for all did well, and there was some excuse even for those who are in error.
#Not to dispute with others, or attempt to confute them, except by the most obvious retort.
#To state things briefly and plainly, yet not letting anything pass unmentioned which can be seen.
#Not to speak of anything which can be as well explained without the body or can be read at home.
#Not to enter into too much detail, or in too minute dissection, for the time does not permit.
#To serve three courses according to the glass [''i.e.'' allot a definite time to each part of the body]. In the first day's lectures the abdomen, nasty yet recompensed by its infinite variety. In the second the parlour, [''i.e.'' the thorax]. In the third day's lecture the divine banquet of the brain."{{sfn|Power|1897|pp=62–64}}

=== Physician to James I ===
Harvey continued to participate in the Lumleian lectures while also taking care of his patients at [[St Bartholomew's Hospital]]; he thus soon attained an important and fairly lucrative practice, which climaxed with his appointment as 'Physician Extraordinary' to [[James I of England|King James I]] on 3 February 1618. He seems to have similarly served various [[Aristocracy (class)|aristocrats]], including [[Francis Bacon|Lord Chancellor Bacon]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Harvey|title=William Harvey, English physician|last=Gregory|first=Andrew|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|date=22 April 2024 }}</ref>{{sfn|Power|1897|p=71}} Bacon entirely failed to impress the more practical-minded Harvey, who refused to regard him as a great philosopher. He said of him "He writes philosophy like a Lord Chancellor."{{sfn|Power|1897|p=72}}

In 1628 he published in [[Frankfurt]] his completed treatise on the circulation of the blood, the ''[[De Motu Cordis]]''. As a result of negative comments by other physicians Harvey "fell mightily in his practice",{{sfn|Power|1897|p=74}} but continued advancing his career. He was re-elected 'Censor' of the College of Physicians in 1629, having been elected for the first time in 1613 and the second time in 1625. Eventually, Harvey was also elected Treasurer of the College.<ref>{{Cite web|title=William Harvey {{!}} RCP Museum|url=https://history.rcplondon.ac.uk/inspiring-physicians/william-harvey|access-date=18 October 2021|website=history.rcplondon.ac.uk}}</ref>

=== Witchcraft trials ===
Harvey was a prominent sceptic regarding allegations of witchcraft. He was one of the examiners of four women from Lancashire accused of witchcraft in 1634, and as a consequence of his report, all of them were acquitted.<ref>{{cite book|title=Life of Harvey|last=Power|first=d'Arcey|publisher=Longmans, Green, & co.}}</ref><ref>''BMJ'' 18 September 1926</ref> Earlier, in 1632, while travelling with the King to [[Newmarket, Suffolk|Newmarket]], he had been sent to investigate a woman accused of being a witch. Initially, he told her that he was a wizard and had come to discuss the Craft with her, and asked whether she had a [[familiar]]. She put down a saucer of milk and called to a toad which came out and drank the milk. He then sent her out to fetch some ale, killed the toad and dissected it, concluding that it was a perfectly ordinary animal and not supernatural in any way. When the woman returned she was naturally very angry and upset, but Harvey eventually silenced her by stating that he was the King's Physician, sent to discover whether she was a witch, and if she were, to have her apprehended.<ref>''Selected Writings of Joseph Needham'' ed Mansell Davies</ref>

=== Excursions abroad, election as physician to Charles I and the English Civil War ===
At the age of fifty-two, Harvey received commands from the king to accompany the [[James Stewart, 1st Duke of Richmond|Duke of Lennox]] during his trip abroad. This voyage – the first after Harvey's return from [[Padua]] – lasted three years, taking Harvey through the countries of France and Spain during the [[War of the Mantuan Succession|Mantuan War]] and [[Plague (disease)|Plague]]. During this journey he wrote to [[Viscount Dorchester]]:

<blockquote>
I can complain that by the way we could scarce see a dog, crow, kite, raven or any other bird, or anything to anatomize, only some few miserable people, the relics of the war and the plague where famine had made anatomies before I came. It is scarce credible in so rich, populous, and plentiful countries as these were that so much misery and desolation, poverty and famine should in so short a time be, as we have seen. I interpret it well that it will be a great motive for all here to have and procure assurance of settled [[peace]]. It is time to leave fighting when there is nothing to eat, nothing to be kept, and nothing to be gotten.{{sfn|Power|1897|pp=85–86}}
</blockquote>

Having returned to England in 1632. Harvey accompanied King [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] wherever he went as '[[In ordinary#Royal Household|Physician in Ordinary]]'. In particular, Charles's hunting expeditions gave Harvey access to many deer carcasses; it was upon them that Harvey made many observations and developed his theories. Harvey returned to Italy in October 1636, dining at the English College, Rome, as a guest of the Jesuits there. It is possible he met Galileo in Florence en route.<ref>[[Edward Chaney]], ''The Grand Tour and the Great Rebellion: Richard Lassels and 'The Voyage of Italy' in the Seventeenth Century'' (Geneva-Turin, 1985), pp. 291–93.</ref>

During the [[English Civil War]] a mob of citizen-soldiers opposed to the King entered Harvey's lodgings, stole his goods, and scattered his papers. The papers consisted of "the records of a large number of dissections ... of diseased bodies, with his observations on the development on insects, and a series of notes on comparative anatomy."{{sfn|Power|1897|p=125}} During this period, Harvey maintained his position, helped the wounded on several occasions and protected the King's children during the [[Battle of Edgehill]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Stewart|first=D.|date=1946|title=Harvey and the Battle of Edgehill|journal=Canadian Medical Association Journal|volume=55|issue=4|pages=405|pmid=20323936|pmc=1583020}}</ref>

The conflicts of the Civil War soon led King Charles to [[Oxford]], with Harvey attending, where the physician was made "Doctor of Physic" in 1642 and later [[Warden (college)|Warden]] of [[Merton College]] in 1645. "In [[Oxford]] he (Harvey) very soon settled down to his accustomed pursuits, unmindful of the clatter of arms and of the constant marching and countermarching around him, for the city remained the base of operations until its surrender... "{{sfn|Power|1897|p=130}}

=== Harvey's later years, death and burial ===
The surrender of Oxford in 1645 marks the beginning of Harvey's gradual retirement from public life and duties. Now sixty-eight years old and childless, Harvey had lost three brothers and his wife by this time. He thus decided to return to London, and lived with his brothers Eliab and Daniel at different periods. Having retired from [[St Bartholomew's Hospital]] and his various other aforementioned positions, he passed most of this time reading general literature. Several attempts to bring Harvey back into the 'working world' were made, however; here is an excerpt of one of Harvey's answers:

<blockquote>
Would you be the man who should recommend me to quit the peaceful haven where I now pass my life and launch again upon the faithless sea? You know full well what a storm my former lucubrations raised. Much better is it oftentimes to grow wise at home and in private, than by publishing what you have amassed with infinite labour, to stir up tempests that may rob you of peace and quiet for the rest of your days.{{sfn|Power|1897|pp=150–151}}
</blockquote>

Harvey died at [[Roehampton]] in the house of his brother Eliab on 3 June 1657. Descriptions of the event seem to show that he died of a [[cerebral haemorrhage]] from vessels long injured by [[gout]]: it is highly probable that the left [[middle cerebral artery]] malfunctioned, leading to a gradual accumulation of blood in the brain which eventually overwhelmed it. There exists a fairly detailed account of what happened on that day. Harvey

<blockquote>
went to speak and found that he had the dead palsy in his tongue; then he saw what was to become of him. He knew there were then no hopes of his recovery, so presently he sends for his young nephews to come up to him. He then made signs (for seized with the dead palsy in his tongue he could not speak) to let him blood his tongue, which did him little or no good, and so ended his days, dying in the evening of the day on which he was stricken, the palsy giving him an easy passport.{{sfn|Power|1897|pp=166–167}}
</blockquote>

His [[will (law)|will]] distributed his material goods and wealth throughout his extended family and also left a substantial amount of money to the [[Royal College of Physicians]]. Harvey bequeathed coffee worth £56 to them dictating that they should meet monthly and commemorate his death with [[coffee]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Purkiss |first=Diane |title=English Food - A People's History |publisher=HarperCollins |year=2022 |isbn=978-0-00-725556-6 |edition=1st |location=Great Britain |publication-date=2022 |pages=102 |language=English}}</ref>

Harvey was buried in St. Andrew's Church in [[Hempstead, Essex|Hempstead]] in northern [[Essex]]. The funeral procession started on 26 June 1657, leading Harvey to be placed in the 'Harvey Chapel' built by Eliab. The conditions of Harvey's burial are also known: "Harvey was laid in the chapel between the bodies of his two nieces, and like them he was lapt in lead, coffin less".{{sfn|Power|1897|p=169}} On [[St. Luke's Day]], 18 October 1883, Harvey's remains were reinterred, the leaden case carried from the vault by eight Fellows of the [[College of Physicians]], and deposited in a sarcophagus containing his works and an inscription:

<blockquote>
The body of William Harvey lapt in lead, simply soldered, was laid without shell or enclosure of any kind in the Harvey vault of this Church of [[Hempstead, Essex|Hempstead]], Essex, in June 1657. In the course of time the lead enclosing the remains was, from expose and natural decay, so seriously damaged as to endanger its preservation, rendering some repair of it the duty of those interested in the memory of the illustrious discoverer of the circulation of the Blood. The [[Royal College of Physicians]], of which corporate body Harvey was a munificent Benefactor did in the years 1882–1883, by permission of the Representatives of the Harvey family, undertake this duty. In accordance with this determination the leaden mortuary chest containing the remains of Harvey was repaired, and was, as far as possible, restored to its original state...{{sfn|Power|1897|pp=174–175}}
</blockquote>