Abbo also left some sermons for the instruction of clerics in Paris and Poitiers (Patrologia Latina, CXXXII).
Though coming from one of the most prominent ecclesiastical centres of ninth-century Francia, the monk Abbo is unusually obscure for an individual responsible for a source such as the De bellis.
[3] In 921, Abbo published some of his sermons at the insistence of Bishop Fulrad of Paris, who held office from 921 - 927.
[4] His publications under Fulrad are the last indications of Abbo in French records, causing ambiguity about the year of his death.
[6] It may have been written at the request or insistence of Odo of France, who appears as the hero and "future king" (rex futurus) in the poem.
Significantly, he places no blame on the emperor for the siege of Paris nor for the subsequent harrying of Burgundy, which he actually considered to be appropriate for the Burgundians' refusal to aid the city.
Overall the De bellis seems less concerned with historical accuracy than with theology, preferring to ask why Paris was besieged by the Vikings and to speculate on the spiritual battle that "must" have occurred.