 With other scholars, David accompanied Henry on his expedition to Italy in 1110, and was appointed royal historiographer for the occasion with the intention, perhaps, of drafting the emperor's "relatio", a brief narrative stringing together the documents of the intended treaty and presenting his master's achievements in the best light.The expedition did not go to plan, with the incumbent Pope Pascal II at first refusing to coronate Henry and his wife, Matilda, relenting only after two months of imprisonment.The work written by David has been lost, although it was used as authority in the writings of William of Malmesbury and Ordericus Vitalis.