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Heritage Centre : William Harvey
Harvey’s Life
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| a. Harvey’s Diploma The Diploma is in the form of a small quarto book and is lavishly decorated. Of special interest is the signature of Fabricius of Aquapendente (William Harvey’s teacher). |
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b. Portrait of William Harvey Painted from life or possibly just posthumous, it was one of the treasures saved from the fire of London in 1666. It is said that the College librarian of the time ran out of the building with two smoldering canvases, one under each arm. |
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c. William Harvey demonstrating A nineteenth-century romantic view of Harvey demonstrating his theory of the circulation of the blood to King Charles I. |
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| Did you know that William Harvey was elected ‘councillor for the ‘English nation’ of students’ in Padua from 1600-1602? |
William Harvey was born in Folkestone on 1 April 1578. He was the eldest of seven brothers and two sisters in a family of farmers and merchants. His father traded in silk and luxury goods along the Silk Road to China and the wealth gained from this allowed his parents to afford Harvey’s education. He went to King’s School, Canterbury, studied at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge and then at the University of Padua, Italy. At this time it was not unusual for doctors to study at several different universities, often throughout Europe, before graduating. Their studies went on for many more years than modern day degrees. Harvey graduated doctor of arts and medicine from the University of Padua in 1602. You can see an image of his diploma to the right.
Harvey moved to London later in 1602, and has been described as a ‘swarthy and testy man who habitually wore a dagger’. The portrait of Harvey shown here is said to probably be an accurate likeness. Looking at the portrait do you agree that he was a ‘swarthy and testy man’?
In 1604 Harvey married Elizabeth Browne, daughter of a physician to Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. This meant that Harvey met a lot of rich and wealthy people and he quickly climbed the career ladder. There were only about 40 fully qualified doctors like Harvey in London at this time and their fees were very high so Harvey did very well. He was himself selected as physician to King James I in 1618 and later to King Charles I. He was appointed physician to St Bartholomew’s Hospital in 1609, although his Royal duties interrupted his work there. In 1629 he accompanied the Duke of Lennox on his continental travels on the Kings instructions. He followed King Charles I to Oxford and the battle of Edgehill during the Civil War, returning to London after the fall of Oxford to the parliamentary forces in 1646. King Charles I encouraged Harvey’s researches and gave him access to his deer at Hampton Court for his Experiments.
It was in 1628, 26 years after he graduated from Padua University, that Harvey published his description of the circulation of the blood in Exercitation anatomica de motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus (An anatomical disputation on the movement of the heart and blood in animals). Generally known as De motu cordis.
Despite having the support of Fellows of the College, Harvey lost patients after his work was published. His theory threw doubt onto the common practice of bloodletting (a very common practice by medical practitioners from ancient times through to the eighteenth century) and it was only after his death that others became convinced that he was right.
This page last updated on
May 16, 2005