The standard critical edition of the Annales is that of Georg Pertz in the Monumenta Germaniae Historica.
Both of these may have been based on an earlier exemplar originally compiled contemporaneously with events at the convent of Sankt Martin in Cologne.
The Annales Petaviani also provide a unique explanation for the retirement of Carloman's uncle and namesake, Carloman, son of Charles Martel, who entered the Abbey of Montecassino in 747, leaving power in the hands of his brother, Pepin the Short.
The Annales claim that Carloman's conversion to the religious life came about because his conscience was unsettled by his defeat in Alemannia, where he lost thousands of men: Karolomannus intravit Alamanniam ubi fertur quod multa hominum millia ceciderit.
Unde compunctus regnum reliquit ("Carloman entered Alemannia where it is said that many thousands of men died.