The legend said that Emperor Otto had conquered this island, while William was born, so the Emperor became his patron and he was educated as a monk and made his clerical career at Cluny Abbey during the reform of Abbot Majolus who continued the reform of his predecessor Odo and supported reforms connected with papal politics under influence of the Ottonic Emperors.
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His plan failed after the catastrophic defeat of his son Otto II near Reggio, but the role of Cluny as a centre for liturgical reforms had increased in Ottonic times.
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In 1001 he followed a request by Duke Richard II and became first abbot at the Abbey of Fécamp which was a reforming centre of monasticism in Normandy.