Editing William Harvey (section)

=== 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}}