After his defeat in 878, under the terms of his surrender to King Alfred the Great, Guthrum agreed to be baptized as a Christian and to convert his nation. He and Alfred draft these laws relating to the regulation of governance of the church in his dominion,all of which would later become incorporated into the later united Church of England during the medieval period. Guthrum would continue to rule over East Anglia under his baptismal name of Æthelstan until his death in 890.