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.

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.

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.

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.

Hey all! I recently learned that Medieval Studies did not exist as a degree until the sixties. Furthermore, a ''medievalist'' is a broader term than one who majors in Medieval Studies. The term is often used to describe an academic in history, literature, philosophy, music, etc. who specializes in the Middle Ages. Neither Tolkien nor Lewis majored in Medieval Studies. In fact, both Lewis and Tolkien studied English literature in college. 

Interesting. While the Narnia movies may have medieval influences, it would seem that CS Lewis may have inspiration from somewhere else... being a literary scholar. For example, Narnians wield long straight swords while Calormenes wielded scimitars, and I'm sure CS Lewis would've known about the Crusades.

Posted by: @jasminetarkheena

''Interesting. While the Narnia movies may have medieval influences, it would seem that CS Lewis may have inspiration from somewhere else... being a literary scholar. For example, Narnians wield long straight swords while Calormenes wielded scimitars, and I'm sure CS Lewis would've known about the Crusades.''

Indeed! I have felt that way for many years. While I have never found much about his own perspectives of the Medieval crusades, C. S. Lewis did mention them in some of his writings. Furthermore, his work, The Discarded Image, defends the fact that medieval people were neither ignorant of literature nor science.  

Lewis had a medieval lifestyle and he only used the modern technology of his lifetime when it was necessary. Radio broadcasts were just of communicating his Christianity. It wouldn’t surprise me if he took all of the courses in medieval literature that were available to him for his own education.  Even if he didn’t he was so enthusiastic about the medieval world that he probably would have studied all the literature on his own. He lived like a knight defending the chivalry of Christianity. 🙂

Posted by: @narnian78

''Lewis had a medieval lifestyle and he only used the modern technology of his lifetime when it was necessary. Radio broadcasts were just of communicating his Christianity. It wouldn’t surprise me if he took all of the courses in medieval literature that were available to him for his own education.  Even if he didn’t he was so enthusiastic about the medieval world that he probably would have studied all the literature on his own. He lived like a knight defending the chivalry of Christianity. :)''

I'm not sure what courses Lewis took for his English literature degree. However, he knew Medieval literature very well as attested in his various works on the subject. I highly recommend The Discarded Image to any fan of C. S. Lewis. 

@narnian78 I'm not sure in what ways you mean he had a medieval lifestyle. 

Can you give some examples please? 

@coracle 

Lewis thought highly of chivalry and I think he practiced it in his Christianity. In the Narnia books there are castles and knights and the style of writing reflects the medieval world. Most of his other books are of at least medieval in some way in their character, I don’t think his life was much different except that he had to live in the twentieth century.  But he still clung to the medieval literature even though he had to live in the modern world without necessarily embracing it. His faith was much like the Christian knights that lived in the Middle Ages.

. 

@jewel 

I will read The Discarded Image sometime in the future.  I remember that some students read it when I was in college many years ago.  It is one of the few books of Lewis that I haven’t read.

Posted by: @narnian78

@jewel 

I will read The Discarded Image sometime in the future.  I remember that some students read it when I was in college many years ago.  It is one of the few books of Lewis that I haven’t read.

Narnia78, The Discarded Image is a deep read. The book covers various aspects of Medieval literature that I didn't know about upon reading it. Even now, many of those works I have yet to be familiar with. 

Posted by: @jasminetarkheena

Interesting. While the Narnia movies may have medieval influences, it would seem that CS Lewis may have inspiration from somewhere else... being a literary scholar. For example, Narnians wield long straight swords while Calormenes wielded scimitars, and I'm sure CS Lewis would've known about the Crusades.

While Lewis was a academician with a focus on English Literature he was was known widely as a Classics professor.   This meant that he was also greatly influenced by Hellenic and Hellenistic (Greek and Roman) literature and philosophy.   You can see this all through the Chonicles but perhaps most profoundly in the Last Battle.  The concept of the shadowlands comes from Plato specifically.

He also was a great fan like Tolkien of Norse Mythology and he also spent some time studying occult practices.  The Calormene I think were most likely based on English translations of 1001 Arabian Nights with some English historical depictions of middle easterners from the time of the Crusades.