Nonant was a great-nephew of John, Bishop of Lisieux, who had been the chief deputy in Normandy of King Henry I of England,[2] and he was also a nephew of Arnulf of Lisieux, another bishop of Lisieux.[3] Nonant had a brother Sylvester, who was treasurer of Lisieux.[4] Hugh Nonant was a canon in his uncle Arnulf's cathedral chapter[5] before serving as an archdeacon of the diocese of Lisieux from 1167 until 1184.[6] Nonant served in the household of Thomas Becket while Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury,[7] and went into exile with Becket, although he left Becket's service while the archbishop was in exile.[8] While in Becket's service, Nonant may have authored a letter dated to 1165 that is attributed to Becket.[4] Nonant had been reconciled to King Henry II of England by 1170.[1] Along with Richard Barre, Nonant was named in January 1184 as a papal judge-delegate in a case between two Norman monasteries.[4] In 1184, Nonant was sent by the king to the papal curia to petition Pope Lucius III on behalf of Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Henry II's son-in-law.