 The execution of an Anglo-Saxon king on the orders of another ruler was very rare, although public hanging and beheading did occur at this time, as has been discovered at the Sutton Hoo site. Æthelberht's death at the hands of the Mercians made the possibility of any peaceful union between the Anglian peoples (including Mercia) less likely than before. It led to Mercia's domination of East Anglia, whose kings ruled over the kingdom for over three decades after Æthelberht's death.
