Jeremy Collier

Jeremy Collier ( born September 3, 1650 in Stow- cum- Quy, Cambridgeshire, † April 26, 1726 in London) was an Anglican bishop and English theater critic.

Life

As a supporter of King James II, he was after the Glorious Revolution, in 1688 King William III. and Queen Mary came to the throne, to the so-called "non- juror ," a group who refused the new monarch allegiance. In 1713 he was consecrated bishop by "non- juring " Scottish bishops who did not belong to the state church.

Importance to Collier primarily in connection with the English theater history. In his polemic A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage (a short reflection on the immorality and godlessness of the English Stage, 1698 ) he attacked the Restoration comedies of the 1690s sharply. In this document he was referring primarily to the plays of William Congreve and John Vanbrugh.