The French Clergy and the National Museum of Natural History (1860s-1930s). A Catholic Contribution to Scientific Knowledge

Contrary to a long-held image of the priest as an opponent of science, the scientific contribution of the clergy has recently been reassessed. The analysis of their links with the National Museum of Natural History contributes to this historiographical renewal by highlighting the important role they played in the field of natural sciences during the contemporary period. Several dozen missionaries, friars and secular priests contributed to the increase of the Museum’s collections. Their contribution, which was remarkable both in terms of quality and quantity, reached a peak in the last years of the 19th century, thanks to the zeal of the botanist missionaries deployed in the Far East. Without renouncing their apostolate, these clerics invested themselves passionately in this ancillary task, which combined spiritual motivations, scientific quest, patriotic ambition and also financial concerns. The naturalist clergymen linked to the Museum also played a key role in the circulation of knowledge. They contributed to the dissemination of scientific knowledge and fed the reflection of the professionals working in the Museum with their own observations. More than theorists, these naturalist clerics were field scientists, passionate about taxonomy and the geography of species. From the 1860s to the inter-war period, they formed an opportune relay for the Museum, which participated in the extension of the networks of this institution throughout France and the inhabited continents.