Beorhtric (meaning "magnificent ruler"; also spelled Brihtric) (died 802) was the King of Wessex from 786 to 802, succeeding Cynewulf.
[4] The Vikings landed on the Dorset coast, near the Isle of Portland, where they killed a royal official, Beaduheard, the shire reeve, as he is said to have thought that they were traders.
Land that had traditionally been on the borders of Mercia and Wessex was administered by the Mercian court, as is seen in Charters of Offa, and his son Ecgfrith.
The only two West Saxon coins to have survived from Beorhtric's reign were produced at this time, suggesting that he had established a new mint.
In later years, Asser, a scholar at Alfred the Great's court, recorded the story that Beorhtric had died from being accidentally poisoned by his wife, Eadburh.