'Humanism and historiography', 'Humanism and monastic culture' - these areas of research form the framework for the present study of the voluminous chronicle by Hermannus Piscator, a Benedictine humanist of Mainz (d. 1526). Piscator's chronicle was long believed to be lost and is now presented for the first time. It unites in a very specific way such traditional categories of the genre as the town and the bishopric chronicle as well as the national history as it was formed under the influence of Humanism. This new analysis of Piscator's work, his method of working and his personal contacts with fellow humanists throws a new light on neglected fields of German Humanism and leads to surprising conclusions about the formation of modern categories of historiography.