 Soon after his conversion, Eorpwald was killed by Ricberht, possibly as the result of a pagan reaction to the East Anglian conversion.Nothing about Ricberht's ancestry or background is known, although his name can be taken to imply that he was a member of the East Anglian elite and was perhaps related to Eorpwald.The single source for Ricberht, Bede's "Ecclesiastical History", states that "Eorpwald, not long after he had embraced the Christian faith, was slain by one Ricberht, a pagan;" (""Uerum Eorpuald non multo, postquam fidem accepit, tempore occisus est a uiro gentili nomine Ricbercto;"").