In which year did C.S. Lewis marry Joy Davidman?

C.S. Lewis married Joy Davidman in 1956.

Lewis and the American writer Joy Davidman were married in a civil ceremony at the Oxford Register Office on 23 April 1956. They initially married for legal and practical reasons connected with Davidman’s immigration status. Their relationship later developed into a committed partnership, and a Christian marriage ceremony was held in 1957 at the Church of England parish church of Headington Quarry.

Davidman had become a friend and intellectual companion to Lewis before their marriage. Their life together was cut short when she died of cancer in 1960. Lewis later wrote A Grief Observed, an intensely personal book reflecting on bereavement and faith; it was published under a pseudonym in its first edition.

The year 1956 is sometimes confused with 1957 because the church ceremony took place then. The civil marriage, however, occurred in 1956 and is the date generally given for Lewis’s marriage to Davidman.