Magdalene College appointed C.S. Lewis as its first professor of medieval and Renaissance literature.
Lewis held the Cambridge chair from 1954 until his death in 1963. The appointment marked a major change in his academic career, which had previously been centered at Oxford. At Cambridge, he became the first occupant of the professorship, formally linking his work with the study of literature from the medieval and Renaissance periods.
He continued living near Oxford rather than moving permanently to Cambridge. His Cambridge position nevertheless gave him a second major academic base and placed him among scholars working in one of Britain’s oldest universities.
Magdalene is distinct from Magdalen College, Oxford, where Lewis was a fellow and tutor for many years. The two colleges have similar names but belong to different universities, making them a frequent source of confusion.