1574 Milgate Park/Kent
1637 London

The physician and writer Robert Fludd was born in Milgate in 1574. Fludd studied medicine at Oxford and received his doctorate in 1598. His travels then took him to France, Italy, and Germany. He also became interested in chemistry and philosophy during his medical studies. As Fludd crisscrossed Europe, he came in contact with advocates of the medical teachings of Paracelsus. Fludd occupied himself with the philosophy of the Rosicrucians, a movement which the physician later strongly supported. Fludd returned to Oxford in 1605 and received the titles of Bachelor of Medicine and Doctor of Medicine. He also lectured there until 1609. At this time, Fludd studied the chemical principles of Paracelsus as pertaining to medicine as well as with mystical and alchemical experiments. In 1606, Fludd left Oxford to open his own medical practice in London. His laboratory was stocked with various chemical substances, which he used for his alchemical research. Fludd also composed many writings in which he developed his ideas on the medical mystics and his interest in the teachings of the Rosicrucians. As a physician and writer, Fludd continually searched for a connection between the modern natural sciences and theosophic mysticism. Robert Fludd died in London in 1637.

Fludd, Robert