“Un clima de este género podrían envidiarlo los Elisios”: El clima en el Nuevo Reino de Granada visto por los sacerdotes del siglo XVIII

Objective: To explore some books written by priests who were born or lived in the New Kingdom of Granada who, from the late 17th century and throughout the 18th century, were interested in natural history, and, specifically, the climate and the weather of places that were strange to them. Methodology: After drawing up an inventory of natural history texts, geographical dictionaries, and travel literature created in the 18th century, the works written by priests who had stayed long periods far from their regions of origin were selected, these priests recorded climate and weather conditions and the relation with relief, vegetation, and society. Originality: Since 18th century travel accounts are relatively little studied, compared to those of the 19th century, and their analysis has concentrated on views of nature as a whole or about some of its parts, especially on flora and fauna, this article examines views on climate and weather that have been insufficiently explored for the New Granada case. Conclusions: The characterization of the climate in northwestern South America has gone through a long process and it is wrong to attribute it to a particular pioneer, since the findings in climatology and meteorology cannot be attributed to isolated and exceptional figures and can only be understood in a long-term and collective way; this is why direct qualitative sources are valuable and the artificial division between rational enlightened naturalists and priests who gave providentialist explanations for meteorological phenomena turns out to be artificial.