He accompanied Francis to Rome when the first Rule was approved orally by Pope Innocent III, and appears to have then received the monastic tonsure.

Shortly after his return to Assisi he started for Jerusalem, to venerate the Holy Places, visiting on his way home the Italian shrines of St. Michael, at Monte Gargano, and Saint Nicholas, at Bari.

At Ancona he made reed baskets; at Brindisi he carried water and helped to bury the dead; at Rome he cut wood, trod the wine-press, and gathered nuts; while the guest of a cardinal at Rieti he insisted on sweeping the house and cleaning the knives.

"[2] A keen observer of people and events, Giles acquired in the course of these travels much valuable knowledge and experience, which he turned to good account.

After some years of activity Giles was assigned by Francis to the hermitage of Monteripido, outside Perugia, where he began a life of contemplation and ecstasy which continued until his death.

The answers and advice these visitors received were remembered, talked over, and committed to writing, and thus was formed a collection of the familiar "Dicta" or "Sayings" of Giles.