He was a Fleming or Brabantian by birth and became a monk of St Bertin's at Saint-Omer before travelling to England to take up a position in the household of Herman, Bishop of Ramsbury in Wiltshire (1058–78).
[3] In fact, Goscelin states, himself, in his Liber confortatorius, that 'he first came to the bishop' at Potterne or Canning (in Wiltshire), implying that he did not travel to England in his company, but joined him there instead.
His fortunes took a turn for the worse when Bishop Herman died in 1078 and was succeeded by Osmund of Sées, whom Goscelin in his Liber confortatorius describes as a "king who knew not Joseph".
Later, he wrote hagiography for the monastic communities of Ely, Barking, Ramsey, and St Augustine's, Canterbury, among other places.
A Canterbury obituary, quoted by Henry Wharton in Anglia Sacra, gives 15 May as the day of death of a certain Goscelin, who may have been this man, but does not name the year.
His chief work was a life of St Augustine of Canterbury, professing to be based on older records and divided into two parts, -- an "Historia major" (Mabillon, Acta Sactorum.
The Vita S. Swithuni (life of St Swithun) has traditionally been attributed to Goscelin, but Michael Lapidge has shown that this is incorrect.