He was educated at Paris and Reims, and spent two years in England assisting Archbishop Oswald of York in restoring the monastic system. He was also abbot of the monastery of Ramsey from 986 to 987, where he was learned of the martyrdom of Saint Edmund (November 870), and wrote a passion in Latin on it. He also wrote a Latin grammar for his students in England. After his return in 988, he was elected abbot of Fleury, and was active in contemporary politics; in 996 King Robert II sent him to Rome to ward off a threatened papal interdict. He was killed by a revolt of monks at the subsidiary priory of La Réole in Gascony in 1004. Although promoted as a saint (feast day November 13), he does not seem to have been officially canonized by Rome.
Among his other works include a simplification of the computus, the computation of the date of Easter, an Epitome de vitis Romanorum pontificum, and other treatises on controversial topics and letters. His life, written by his disciple Aimoin of Fleury, in which much of Abbo's correspondence was reproduced, is of great importance as a source for the reign of Robert II, especially with reference to the Papacy.
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