Iorwerth ap Bleddyn

Iorwerth ap Bleddyn († 1111 ) was a prince of the Welsh principality of Powys .

He was a younger son of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn and a daughter of Brochwel. After the death of his older brothers Madog and Rhiryd, who had died in 1088 in the battle against Rhys ap Tewdwr , princes of Deheubarth , he and his brothers Cadwgan and Maredudd Powys split up. In 1102 he supported like his brothers the Anglo-Norman Lord Robert of Bellême, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury in his revolt against the new English King Henry I and supported the siege of Bridgnorth . However, through gifts and promises the king was able to get him and Cadwgan to switch sides, which contributed to the failure of the revolt. Iorwerth took his brother Maredudd prisoner, but while Cadwgan was able to expand his territory in Ceredigion and Powys, Henry I. Iorwerth refused the lands in Dyfed which he had promised him and gave them to the Welsh Hywel ap Goronwy . When Iorwerth tried to claim his claims from the Crown at Shrewsbury , he was captured. Only after his brother Cadwgan had lost control of Powys and Ceredigion in 1110, Iorwerth came free again and was allowed to take control of his brother's territory in Powys. He drove his nephews Owain ap Cadwgan and Madog ap Rhiryd from his territory, from where they had waged a guerrilla war against Anglo-Norman and Flemish settlers. Thereupon Iorwerth was murdered in Caereinion by his nephew Madog with the support of Llywarch ap Trahern , the ruler of Arwystli .

He left no descendants; his brother Cadwgan was again his successor.

Web links

• Oxford DNB: Bleddyn ap Cynfyn
• Welsh Biography Online: Iorwerth ap Bleddyn