The Problematic Present: Locating and Losing Meaning in the Narrative Structure of the Fineshade Chronicle

Late medieval chroniclers frequently used narrative structure to give meaning to the events they recounted, but recent and problematic historical episodes could present a challenge. One small chronicle from an English priory, recounting the civil war of 1321–22, begins its story with confidence; but the structure of its narrative, and eventually even of its grammar, begins to disintegrate into uncertainty as the chronicler approaches his own present. A prosopographical study of the priory’s patron family reveals the unsettled state of the local community in the wake of the civil war, suggesting that chroniclers’ failures of meaning can be as revealing as their successes.