Hugh was the Abbot of Farfa from 998. He founded the abbatial school and wrote its history from the late ninth through the early eleventh century under the title Destructio monasterii Farfensis ("The Destruction of the Monastery of Farfa"). A later student of his school, Gregory of Catino

Gregory of Catino

Gregory of Catino was a monk of the Abbey of Farfa and "one of the most accomplished monastic historians of his age." Gregory died shortly after 1130, possibly in 1133....

, wrote a fuller history of the monastery parly based on Hugh's earlier account.

The Destructio Hugh wrote begins where an earlier, and not completely preserved work, the Libellus constructionis Farfensis

Libellus constructionis Farfensis

The Libellus constructionis Farfensis , often referred to simply as the Constructio in context, is a written history of the Abbey of Farfa from its foundation by Thomas of Maurienne circa 700 until the death of Abbot Hilderic in 857. It is about the "construction" of a powerful abbey with vast...

, left off, with the death of Abbot Hilderic

Hilderic of Farfa

Hilderic was the fifteenth Abbot of Farfa from 844. In 842 Abbot Sichard died, and the Emperor Lothair I intervened to appoint Bishop Peter II of Spoleto in control of the abbey in the interim. Peter organised an election, in which the monks chose Hilderic, and convinced Lothair to confirm him in...

 in 857. His purpose in chronicling the history of the abbey in this period, which includes the Saracen

Saracen

Saracen was a term used by the ancient Romans to refer to a people who lived in desert areas in and around the Roman province of Arabia, and who were distinguished from Arabs. In Europe during the Middle Ages the term was expanded to include Arabs, and then all who professed the religion of Islam...

 assault on the monastery and the dispersal of the monks under Abbot Peter

Peter of Farfa

Peter was the long-serving Abbot of Farfa from about 890 until his death, replacing the interim abbot Vitalis. His abbacy marked the end of a confused period which saw four abbots in the space of two years....

 in 897/8, was to introduce the Cluniac reform there. Hugh castigates the monks for their decadence and corruption following their return to the abbey after the Saracen occupation, but by the time he had taken up the post of abbot, he wrote, "there was not found in all the Kingdom of Italy

Kingdom of Italy (medieval)

The Kingdom of Italy was a political entity under control of Carolingian dynasty of Francia first, after the defeat of the Lombards in 774. It was finally incorporated as a part of the Holy Roman Empire in 962....

 a similar monastery in any respect, save the monastery called Nonantola

Abbey of Nonantola

Nonantola Abbey, dedicated to Saint Sylvester, is a former a Benedictine monastery and prelature nullius in the commune of Nonantola, c. 10 km north-east of Modena, in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy. The abbey church remains as a basilica.-History:...

." By this time the monastery was under the control of the Ottonian emperors.