 According to the historian N. J. Higham, Edwin of Northumbria and Paulinus of York, Edwin's bishop, were able to persuade Eorpwald to accept an "alien cult" whose authority rested outside East Anglia.Eorpwald may have been sponsored by King Edwin at his baptism, which would have resulted in Edwin being acknowledged as Eorpwald's lord.The East Angles may also have been baptised as a people, which would have undermined Eorpwald's authority as king and acted against the authority of any long-established pagan cults.