Rigaud was born into a family of minor nobility in the Île de France around the year 1210, and became a lecturer in the 1230s.
[1] While at the University of Paris, Rigaud initially studied the liberal arts and theology under the tutelage of Alexander of Hales.
[2][3][4] Rigaud was elected as archbishop of Rouen by a cathedral chapter in 1247, becoming the first Franciscan friar to do so.
He was present when the king died of dysentery later that same year, and was personally responsible for overseeing the return of his body to France from Tunis.
[1] Evidently, Rigaud was a close friend of the king before his death, and was previously involved in negotiating the Treaty of Paris between England and France in 1259, successfully ending the First Hundred Years' War.