What was C.S. Lewis’s academic specialty at Cambridge University?

C.S. Lewis’s academic specialty at Cambridge University was Medieval and Renaissance English.

In 1954, Lewis became the first holder of the newly established chair of Medieval and Renaissance English at Magdalene College, Cambridge. He had previously spent most of his academic career at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was a fellow and tutor in English literature.

His scholarship ranged across medieval and Renaissance texts, including works connected with allegory, literary history, and Christian thought. The Cambridge appointment recognized his standing as a literary scholar, even though the public often knew him chiefly as a novelist and Christian essayist.

The Cambridge college was Magdalene, spelled with an “e” at the end, and should not be confused with Oxford’s Magdalen College, which lacks that final letter. This distinction is a common source of errors in accounts of Lewis’s career.