Why did William Harvey attend the University of Padua?

William Harvey attended the University of Padua because it was the leading European medical school at the time.1

During his studies there, he became a student of the renowned Italian anatomist and surgeon Hieronymus Fabricius ab Aquapendente, whose work on the valves in the veins significantly influenced Harvey and eventually helped lead him to his revolutionary theory regarding the circulation of blood. Additionally, it is likely that Harvey was taught by the Italian philosopher Cesare Cremonini, a prominent follower of Aristotle. Harvey earned his doctorate from the university in 1602.12