Bleddyn ap Cynfyn

Bleddyn ap Cynfyn (died 1075) was a Prince of Gwynedd and of Powys.

Bleddyn was the son of Cynfyn ap Gwerstan of the royal line of Powys. When Grufydd ap Llywelyn was killed by his own men after being defeated by Harold Godwinson in 1063, his realm was divided among several princes. Bleddyn and his brother Rhiwallon submitted to Harold and from him received Gwynedd and Powys. In 1067 Bleddyn and Rhiwallon joined with the Mercian Eadric the Wild in an attack on the Normans at [[Hereford], then in 1068 allied with Earl Edwin of Mercia and Earl Morcar of Northumbria in another attack on the Normans.

Bleddyn was challenged by the two sons of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, but defeated them at the battle of Mechain in 1070, one being killed and the other dying of exposure after the battle. Bleddyn's bother Rhiwallon was also killed in this battle, and he ruled Gwynedd and Powys alone until his death. He was killed in 1075 by Rhys ab Owain and the nobility of Ystrad Tywi in South Wales. Bleddyn is said in the Brut y Tywysogion to have been a benevolent ruler, and was responsible for a revision of the law of Howell the Good.

References

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