He was a partisan of the Gregorian reform and opposed to the Archbishop of Vienne, later Pope Callixtus II.

Born at Châteauneuf-sur-Isère, County of Albon to Odilo of Valence, Hugh showed piety and theological facility from a young age.

When he had succeeded in countering abuse and fostering devotion after two years, he tried to resign his bishopric and enter the Benedictine monastery at Cluny.

[1] For the rest of the 11th century, his episcopate was marked by strife with Count Guigues III of Albon over the possession of ecclesiastic lands in the Grésivaudan, a valley in the French Alps.

They founded a monastery and devoted their lives to prayer and study, being oft visited by Hugh, who was reported to have adopted much of their way of life.