Before becoming a professor of medieval and Renaissance literature, C.S. Lewis’s academic field at Oxford was English literature.
Lewis held an Oxford academic post as a Fellow and Tutor in English at Magdalen College from 1925 until 1954. His teaching and scholarship focused especially on medieval and Renaissance texts, the history of English literature, and literary criticism.
In 1954, Lewis moved to the University of Cambridge, where he became the first holder of the chair of Medieval and Renaissance English at Magdalene College. The similar names of Oxford’s Magdalen College and Cambridge’s Magdalene College can cause confusion: Oxford uses “Magdalen” without a final e, while Cambridge uses “Magdalene.”
Lewis was also a prolific Christian writer and novelist, but his Oxford appointment was an academic position in English. His scholarly books include The Allegory of Love and English Literature in the Sixteenth Century, which reflect his literary specialization.