Bledri of Gwent (837-884) was King of Gwent during the late 9th century AD. He was one of the leaders of the Welsh Rebellion against Wessex during the 880s, and he was slain at the Siege of Cair Gwent in 884.
Biography[]
Bledri was born in Cair Gwent, Kingdom of Gwent (present-day Caerwent, Monmouthshire, Wales) in 837, and he rose to be King of Gwent by 878. Bledri was a vassal of King Alfred the Great of Wessex, and he was friendly with the Anglo-Saxons until the Welsh Rebellion broke out in 881. Bledri initially sided with King Alfred against Gliwissig, whose armies soon marched to Gwent's doorstep, but, in 883, as West Saxon invaders under Aelfwald arrived to subdue the Welsh rebels, Bledri found himself unwilling to take up arms against his fellow Britons and instead sided with Gliwissig. Aelfwald responded by laying siege to Cair Gwent, trapping Bledri in the city. Aelfwald was later arrested and executed for treason by King Alfred and replaced in command by the king's nephew Aethelhelm, who continued to oversee the siege. Bledri sought to take advantage of the change in command to lead a sortie against the Saxons, but they outflanked his army in the ensuing battle and destroyed both the army and the garrison piecemeal. Bledri himself was cut down by West Saxon cavalrymen before he could flee to safety.
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