What subject did C.S. Lewis hold the Cambridge chair in from 1954?

From 1954, C.S. Lewis held the Cambridge chair in Medieval and Renaissance Literature. He became the first occupant of the chair at Magdalene College, Cambridge, after nearly three decades teaching at Oxford.

The appointment reflected Lewis’s established reputation as a literary scholar. His academic interests included medieval allegory, Renaissance writing, myth, and the influence of Christianity on literature. His scholarly book The Allegory of Love, published in 1936, had helped establish his standing.

Lewis continued writing fiction and popular Christian works after moving to Cambridge. He also remained connected to Oxford, where he had spent most of his earlier academic career and built important friendships.

The chair’s title is sometimes shortened inaccurately to medieval literature. Its formal scope included both the medieval and Renaissance periods, matching the chronological range of Lewis’s teaching and scholarship.