What was C.S. Lewis’s first Cambridge professorship called?

C.S. Lewis’s Cambridge professorship was the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance English.

Lewis took up the post at Magdalene College, Cambridge, in 1954, after nearly three decades teaching at Magdalen College, Oxford. He held the Cambridge chair until his retirement in 1963, the year he died.

The position matched Lewis’s scholarly interests. He wrote extensively about medieval and Renaissance literature, including works by John Milton and other major authors. His academic study The Allegory of Love, published in 1936, had already established his reputation as a literary historian.

The two colleges have similar names and are sometimes confused: Magdalen College, Oxford, was Lewis’s long-term Oxford base, while Magdalene College, Cambridge, was where he held his Cambridge professorship. The Cambridge college uses the spelling “Magdalene.”