Rutger Sycamber from Vernay (1456-1514?) joined the Windesheim congregation at the age of 20. But instead of remaining at his chosen monastery (Höningen in central Germany) he elected to divide his time between a considerable number of monasteries in his own chapter over a period of more than 10 years. In 1494 he took to writing, completing close on 200 books in the further course of his life. In the 36 of them that have come down to us, he gives us a precise and frequently surprising account of life in the monasteries of the day. This edition of his autobiography includes a German translation.