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Was C. S Lewis an academic Medievalist by education?

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Was C. S Lewis an academic Medievalist by education?

Postby jewel » Jun 23, 2019 7:58 am

C. S. Lewis, as many of us Narnia fans are aware, taught English Literature through most of his life. In his later years, Cambridge University gave him the chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature.
My question then is, did Lewis actually go through a Medieval Studies Program? If not was this an honor attributed to him by Cambridge University. As I've never read about Lewis being a professional Medievalist, I was curious if he was. Tolkien was certainly a Medievalist, and I was wondering if Lewis was as well.
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Re: Was C. S Lewis an academic Medievalist by education?

Postby coracle » Jun 23, 2019 9:26 am

C.S.Lewis was responsible for writing an important textbook on Medieval and Renaissance literature, more exactly, Sixteenth Century.

He wrote the volume as part of the Oxford History of English Literature: Excluding Drama.

https://www.amazon.com/English-Literature-Sixteenth-Century-Excluding/dp/0198812981

He knew what he was writing about, having got three Firsts in his undergraduate degree, one of them English. Two years later he became a Fellow and
Tutor in English Literature at the university.
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Re: Was C. S Lewis an academic Medievalist by education?

Postby mm1991 » Jun 23, 2019 12:14 pm

Yes, I actually wrote a little biography about C.S. Lewis for one of my college projects, and I remember including his contributions to the field of Medieval literature, which even I had not known up to that point! He was such an interesting fellow.
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Re: Was C. S Lewis an academic Medievalist by education?

Postby Cleander » Jun 23, 2019 7:01 pm

I actually have a collection of essays Lewis wrote on Medieval/Renaissance Literature, published posthumously by Walter Hooper. Pretty scholarly stuff, but I have never seen Medieval Literature among his credentials as a professor or student. I suspect that was just his interest.
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Re: Was C. S Lewis an academic Medievalist by education?

Postby jewel » Jun 23, 2019 7:15 pm

That above comment is my point, yes I know Lewis taught English Literature. But does anyone know if he went into a Medieval Studies program?

For those of you not aware, Medieval Studies is an academic program that often serves as a double major to those from one field to another.
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