Born in a Norman family in southern Italy,[1] Pagan most probably started his career as a lay notary in his homeland.
[3] Pagan were among the prelates and barons who adopted laws against adultery, sodomy, bigamy, procuring and prohibit sexual relations between Christians and Saracens at the Council of Nablus on 15 January 1120.
[6] He accompanied Baldwin II of Jerusalem to Antioch in August 1122, consequently those who needed a royal charter were to travel to north Syria to meet with him.
[7] He played a more active role in the politics from the 1120s, leaving the actual administrative work to Hemelin, who was made vice-chancellor around 1124.
[8] Along with Warmund of Picquigny, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and William I of Bures, Pagan conducted negotiations with the Doge of Venice, Domenico Michiel, about the joint conquest of Tyre at Christmas 1123.