Sources on his life include the early 15th century history of the Abbey by John Flete and the 1751 An history of the Church of St. Peter, Westminster, commonly called Westminster Abbey by Richard Widmore.
[1] On 28 May 1065 he buried his friend Osbern, Abbot of Saint-Evroul, who had died the previous year.
[2] He was a confidant of John, abbot of Fecamp, who in 1058 charged him with setting up Saint-Gabriel-Brécy Priory - its establishment had been requested by Vitalis' brother Richard, lord of Creully.
Finally he was appointed the third abbot of Westminster Abbey by William I of England on the advice of Lanfranc, the first Norman Archbishop of Canterbury.
Vitalis was buried beneath a small white stone at the head of Abbot Gislebert in the south cloister of the Abbey - its Latin inscription stated that "He who derived his name from life [vita], Abbot Vitalis, at death's summons passed on and lies here".