Very little is known about his early life, except that he was a monk from Saint-Denis when chosen by William Longsword.
He was heavily criticized by later chroniclers, who mention his inability to resist temptations of the flesh and his spoliation of cathedral property.
[1][2] His arrival to Rouen coincided with the assassination of William by Arnulf of Flanders, and was followed by the minority of Duke Richard I.
[3] In 966, Hugh assisted Richard in the reformation of the canons of Mont-Saint Michel into a regular Benedictine community.
He also acquired a copy of the Vita of St. Romanus, Rouen's main saint, from Gerard de Brogne, and established the cults of St.Lo of Coutances and St. Taurin of Évreux.