Jeremy Collier - Wikipedia Jeremy Collier From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Jeremy Collier (/ˈkɒliər/; 23 September 1650 – 26 April 1726) was an English theatre critic, non-juror bishop and theologian. Contents 1 Life 2 Works 2.1 Collier Controversy 3 Aftermath 4 Dictionary 5 Death 6 References 7 External links Life[edit] Born Jeremiah Collier, in Stow cum Quy, Cambridgeshire, Collier was educated at Caius College, University of Cambridge, receiving the BA (1673) and MA (1676). A supporter of James II, he refused, as a nonjuror (see Nonjuring schism) to take the oath of allegiance to William III and Mary II after the Glorious Revolution. Furthering his obvious disapproval of the new monarchs, he publicly absolved two Jacobites who had conspired to assassinate the King and Queen. In 1713 he was consecrated a non-juror bishop by George Hickes and two Scottish bishops, Archibald Campbell and James Gadderar. Works[edit] Collier was the primus of the nonjuring line and a strong supporter of the four usages. (see Nonjuring schism) In the years following the Revolution he wrote a series of tracts questioning the legitimacy of the new monarchs and the deprival of the Non-juror bishops. He was well known for his Ecclesiastical History of Great Britain, 1708–1714, which was attacked for its tendentious political and theological comments, but nevertheless widely used. His Reasons for restoring some prayers and directions, as they stand in the communion-service of the first English reform'd liturgy, 1717 was the first salvo in the usages debate. His Essays were popular in his own day but are now little read. Collier wrote anti-theatrical polemic but was a high-church monarchist, unlike the many Puritans who wrote in this genre as well. Collier also translated the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius into English. Collier Controversy[edit] In the history of English drama, Collier is known for his anti-theatrical attack on the comedy of the 1690s in his Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage (1698), which draws for its ammunition mostly on the plays of William Congreve, John Vanbrugh, John Dryden, and Thomas D'Urfey. At the start of the English Civil War (1642) theatres were closed and in 1647 a law was passed to punish anyone who participated in or viewed drama. After the war, and during the English Interregnum, the Puritans, under Oliver Cromwell, had control of most of the English government. They placed heavy restrictions on entertainment and entertainment venues that were perceived as being pagan or immoral. In the English Restoration (1660), playwrights reacted against the Puritanical restrictions with much more decadent plays. The plays produced in the Restoration drew comparisons to the great Elizabethan dramas by critics of the day. However, these plays were considered vulgar because they mocked and disrespected marriage, morals, and the clergy. Furthermore, King Charles II allowed women to act on stage; some of the first actresses were of ill-repute. Collier's pamphlets sought to stem the spread of vice but turned out to be the sparks that kindled a controversial flame between like-minded Puritans and Restoration dramatists. Collier devotes nearly 300 pages to decry what he perceived as profanity and moral degeneration in the stage productions of the era. This ranged from general attacks on the morality of Restoration theatre to very specific indictments of playwrights of the day. Collier argued that a venue as influential as the theatre—it was believed then that the theatre should be providing moral instruction—should not have content that is morally detrimental. These pamphlets began a pamphlet war (see:Pamphlet wars) between Collier and some playwrights like Vanbrugh. Many of the playwrights responded with equally vehement attacks, but some were so deeply affected, they withdrew from theatre permanently or substantially changed their approach to writing comedies, William Congreve amongst them. Aftermath[edit] Although the theatre styles of the Restoration lasted a while even after Collier's pamphlets, a new and more restrained theatre began to develop due, in part, to Collier's critiques. Due to the strict morals of the Puritans as well as others such as Collier, neoclassism drama began to emerge even while Restoration drama was still flourishing. During Collier's time, Societies for the Reformation of Manners dedicated themselves to maintaining honour in playhouses. Dictionary[edit] Collier published an early encyclopedia in 1701, The great historical, geographical, genealogical and poetical dictionary. He freely admitted that the text was based on a number of earlier historians, but especially out of the eighth edition of Louis Moréri's Grand Dictionnaire Historique. This was issued in two volumes in London from 1701-1705 with an appendix covering the time period from 1688 "by another hand" being issued in the latter year. A further appendix was issued in 1721 and a second edition in 1727. The work was not considered a success as Colliers additions were not of the same quality as the source text and it came out during the same period as the Lexicon Technicum.[1] Death[edit] Collier died on 26 April 1726 and was buried on 29 April in Old St. Pancras Churchyard.[2] The grave is lost but Collier is not listed on the Burdett-Coutts Memorial to the important graves lost therein. References[edit] ^ Collison, Robert Lewis. Encyclopaedias: their history throughout the ages; a bibliographical guide with extensive historical notes to the general encyclopaedias issued throughout the world from 350 B.C. to the present day. New York, Hafner, 1966 p.97 ^ The Environs of London: Pancras (1795) Aurelius, Marcus (1701). T. Gataker; J. Collier (eds.). Meditations. Translated by Jeremy Collier. London: Sare. Boster, Tania (2009). "BETTER TO BE ALONE THAN IN ILL COMPANY"JEREMY COLLIER THE YOUNGER: LIFE AND WORKS, 1650–1726. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh. Collier, Jeremy (1996) [1698]. Yuji, Kaneko (ed.). A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English stage. London: Routledge. Cornwall, R.D. (1993). Visible and Apostolic: The Constitution of the Church in High Church Anglican and Non-Juror Thought. University of Delaware Press. Salmon, Eric (2004). "Collier, Jeremy (1650–1726)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/5917. (subscription required)   Sutton, Charles William (1887). "Collier, Jeremy". In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. 11. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 341–347. Edward I. Bleiberg, ed. (2005). "The Hanoverian Theater". The Age of the Baroque and Enlightenment 1600–1800. 5. Detroit: Gale. pp. 431–435. Westlake, E.J. (2005). "Drama: Drama and Religion". Encyclopedia of Religion. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA. pp. 2435–2440. Dennis Kennedy, ed. (2003). "Collier Jeremy (1650–1726)". The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance. 1. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 287–288. Edward I. Bleiberg, ed. (2005). "Important Events in Theater". The Age of the Baroque and Enlightenment 1600–1800. 5. Detroit: Gale. pp. 394–397. External links[edit] Wikiquote has quotations related to: Jeremy Collier Wikisource has original works written by or about: Jeremy Collier Collier Controversy Questia.com Works by Jeremy Collier at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Jeremy Collier at Internet Archive The great historical, geographical, genealogical and poetical dictionary Vol. 1 The great historical, geographical, genealogical and poetical dictionary Vol. 2 A supplement to The great historical, geographical, genealogical and poetical dictionary Authority control BNF: cb10347115h (data) GND: 12246835X ISNI: 0000 0000 8087 9174 LCCN: n50029118 NLA: 35029779 NLI: 000406904 NTA: 108425800 PLWABN: 9810672325105606 SELIBR: 320855 SNAC: w6tm7x60 SUDOC: 094324824 Trove: 802971 VcBA: 495/122796 VIAF: 8269751 WorldCat Identities: lccn-n50029118 Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jeremy_Collier&oldid=1000176130" Categories: English bishops English nonjuror clergy English political writers English literary critics British theatre critics Anglican bishops by diocese in Scotland People from South Cambridgeshire District 1650 births 1726 deaths Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge English male non-fiction writers 18th-century Anglican bishops Hidden categories: EngvarB from August 2014 Use dmy dates from August 2014 Pages containing links to subscription-only content Articles incorporating Cite DNB template Articles with Project Gutenberg links Articles with Internet Archive links Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLA identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLI identifiers Wikipedia articles with NTA identifiers Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers Wikipedia articles with VcBA identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikisource Languages Deutsch Español Français Nederlands Русский Svenska Edit links This page was last edited on 13 January 2021, at 23:41 (UTC). 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