Entering the Order at St. Germer, he studied with great zeal, devoting himself at first to the secular poets Ovid and Virgil—an experience which left its imprint on his works.
In 1104, he was chosen abbot of the poor and tiny abbey of Nogent-sous-Coucy (founded 1059) and henceforth took a more prominent part in ecclesiastical affairs, where he came into contact with bishops and court society.
His first major work of this period is his history of the First Crusade called Dei gesta per Francos (God's deeds through the Franks), finished in 1108 and touched up in 1121.
For the modern reader, his autobiography (De vita sua sive monodiarum suarum libri tres), or Monodiae (Solitary Songs, commonly referred to as his Memoirs), written in 1115, is considered the most interesting of his works.
He provides invaluable information on daily life in castles and monasteries, on the educational methods then in vogue, and gives insights into some of the major and minor personalities of his time.
For example, he was quite skeptical about the propriety of Catholic relics of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and numerous Catholic saints, and entertained doubts about their authenticity, noting that some shrines and pilgrimage sites made conflicting claims about which bodily remnants, clothing or other sacred objects were held at which site[4][5] but he did claim to have seen King Louis VI treating scrofula sufferers with his own eyes.