Royalist interpretation and Bolívar's reply
- When
- 1812
- Where
- Venezuela
- Part of
- 1812 Caracas earthquake
Royalists framed the earthquake as divine punishment for rebellion; Archbishop Coll y Prat's rhetoric prompted Bolívar's famous defiance of Nature.
Since the earthquake occurred on Maundy Thursday while the Venezuelan War of Independence was raging, royalist authorities explained it as divine punishment for the rebellion against the Spanish Crown. Archbishop Narciso Coll y Prat called it "the terrifying but well-deserved earthquake," comparing it to prophecies about Babylon, Jerusalem, and the Tower of Babel. This prompted Simón Bolívar's widely quoted answer: "If Nature is against us, we shall fight Nature and make it obey."
Sources
- 1812 Caracas earthquake Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-19
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