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BAN & BANAT IN THE 1911 ENCYCLOPEDIA

BAN , a word taken from the root of a verb common to many Teutonic languages and meaning originally "to proclaim" or "to announce". The Late Latin form of the word is bannum.
In the laws of the Franks and kindred tribes the word had 3 main uses:
           -in the general sense of a proclamation
           -for the fine incurred for disobeying such proclamation
           -for the district over which proclamations were issued.
It was the frequent use of proclamation(s) or ban(s), commanding or forbidding certain actions under a threat of punishment, which caused the second of these uses to arise out of the first, as the idea of wrong-doing became associated with the proclamation or ban. This bannum dominicum, as it was called, was employed by all feudal lords, from the king downwards, against offenders, and played an important part in the administration of justice in feudal times. It usually took the form of an order to make some amend for wrong-doing, which, if not complied with, was followed by the withdrawal of all protection from the offender, i.e. by outlawry.
After the break-up of the Carolingian empire another use of the word arose in France. "Ban" had occasionally been used in a restricted sense referring only to the summons calling out the host; and as France became separated from the Empire, French law and custom seized upon this use, and soon the men liable to military service were known as "the ban". A variant form of this word was hen ban or an ban, and it is possible that some confusion between the early syllables of this word and the word arrière led to a distinction between the ban and the arrière-ban or retro-bannum. At all events this distinction arose; the ban referring to the vassals called out by the king, and the arnière-ban to the sub-vassals called upon by the vassals in their turn. As in England, the liability to military service was often commuted for a monetary payment, and there were various exemptions. In the XVII and XVIII centuries the ban and arrière-ban were lacking in discipline when called out, and were last summoned in 1758. Local levies, however, called out between this date and the Revolution were sometimes referred to by these names.
            In the medieval Empire and in Germany the word "ban" retained the special sense of punishment. The German equivalent of ban is Acht, and the sentence soon became practically one of outlawry. Connected possibly with the power enjoyed in earlier times by the assemblies of freemen of outlawing an offender, it was frequently used by the emperor, or German king, and the phrase "under the ban" is very common in medieval history. The execution of this sentence of placing an offender under the imperial ban, or Reichsacht, was usually entrusted to some prince or noble, who was often rewarded with a portion of the outlaw's Lands. It was, however, only a serious punishment when the king or his supporters were strong enough to enforce its execution. Employed not only against individuals but also against towns and districts, it was sometimes divided into the Acht and the Oberacht, i.e. partial or complete outlawry. Documents of the time show that the person placed under the imperial ban drew down absolute destitution upon his relatives and frequently death upon himself. At first this sentence was the act of the emperor or king himself, but as the Empire became more German, and its administration less personal, it was entrusted to the Imperial Aulic Council (Reichskanzlei), and to the imperial court of justice or imperial chamber (Reichskammergericht). These courts were deprived of this power in XVII Century retaining only the right of suggesting its use. The imperial ban had, however, been used for the last time in 1706, when Maximilian Emanuel, elector of Bavaria, was placed under it.
            There are many other uses of the word in the sense of a prohibition. In earlier French law the ban of wine or "bánnum vini", was the exclusive right of a lord to sell wine during a stated number of days, and the ban of March and April forbade the pasturing of cattle in certain fields during these months. There were also other similar uses dating from feudal times. In modern French law the phrase rupture de ban described, previous to 1885, the departure without notice of any released criminal living under the special surveillance of the police. The French government still retains the rights of appointing an obligatory place of residence for any criminal, and any escape from this place is a rupture de ban.
A Scandinavian use of the word gives it the sense of a curse. This usage mingling with the use which spiritual lords shared with temporal lords of issuing the ban over their dependents, has become in a special sense ecclesiastical, and the sentence of excommunication is frequently referred to as "under the papal ban". The word is also used in this way by Shakespeare and Milton.
The modern English use of the phrase "under the ban" refers to any line of conduct condemned by custom or public opinion. In its earlier and general sense as a proclamation, the ban may be said to have been suspended by the writ. The word, however, survives in the sense of a proclamation in the "banns of marriage" (qv.).

-The Persian word ban, meaning lord or master, was brought into Europe by the Avars [MC: completely false!; there is no prove for this statement. More, as we will demonstrate, etymologically, the word ban is linked with the Proto-Indo-European base BHA- "to speak"]. It was long used in many parts of south-eastern Europe, especially in southern Hungary, to denote the governors of military districts called banat(s), and is almost equivalent to the German margrave. After enjoying very extensive powers the ban(s) were gradually reduced, both in numbers and importance. Since 1868, however, the governor of Croatia and Slavonia has been known as the ban of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia, but his duties are civil and not military. He is appointed by the emperor of Austria, as king of Hungary, and has a seat in the upper house of the Hungarian parliament.
See:
-Charles du Fresne, Seigneur du Change [B 18.12.1610, Amiens, France; D 1688, Paris], "Glossarium ad scriptores mediae et infimae latinitatis", tome I. (Niort, 1883)
-Heinrich Brunner [B 22.06.1840, Wels in Upper Austria; D 11.08.1915], "Grundzuge der deulsehen Rechtsgeschichte" (Leipzig, 1901)
-Edgard Paul Boutaric [B 1829-D 1877], "Institutions militaires de la France" (Paris, 1863)
-Rév. Père Gilbert Daniel [Jesuit, B 1649-D 1728], "Histoire de la milice françoise et des changemens qui s'y sont faits depuis l'établissement de la monarchie françoise dans les Gaules, jusqu'à la fin du règne de Louis Le Grand. Paris, Mariette, Delespine, Coignard, 1721. Edition originale complète des 70 planches H/T. et des front".
Original: http://9.1911encyclopedia.org/B/BA/BAN.htm

BANAT [Banság in Hungarian], a district in the south-east of Hungary, consisting of the counties of Torontal, Temes and Krasso-Szorény. The term, in Hungarian, means generally a frontier province governed by a ban and is equivalent to the German term Mark. There were in Hungary several banat(s), which disappeared during the Turkish wars, as the banat of Dalmatia, of Slavonia, of Bosnia and of Croatia. But when the word is used without any other qualification, it indicates the Temesvár banat, which strangely acquired this title after the peace of Passarowitz [1718], though it was never governed by a ban [MC: not quite true]. The Banat is bounded E by the Transylvanian Alps, S by the Danube river, W by the Theiss/Tisa river and N by the Maros/Mures river and has an area of 11260 sq. m. It is mountainous in the south and southeast, while in the north, west and south-west it is flat and in some places marshy. The climate, except in the marshy parts, is generally healthy. It is well-watered, and forms one of the most fertile districts of Hungary. Wheat, barley, oats, rye, maize, flax, hemp and tobacco are grown in large quantities, and the products of the vineyards are of a good quality. Game is plentiful and the rivers swarm with fish. The mineral wealth is great, including copper, tin, lead, zinc, iron and especially coal. Amongst its numerous mineral springs, the most important are those of Mehadia, with sulphurous waters, which were already known in the Roman period as the Tiermae Herculis. The Banat had in 1900 a population of 1431329 inhabitants. According to nationality there were 578789 Rumanians, 362487 Germans, 251938 Serbians and 170124 Magyars/Hungarians. The chief town is Temesvár / Timisoara (population 53033 [MC: the numbers quoted are probably prior to 1911 because in 1913 the city of Timisoara had 72555 inhabitants according to the Hungarian census]), and other places of importance are Versecz (25199), Lugos/Lugoj (16126), Nagybecskerek (26407), Nagykikinda (24843) and Pancsova (19044).
The Banat was conquered by the Turks in 1552, and remained a Turkish sanjak [ie province; MC: not sanjak but Eyalet or Vilayet] till 1716, when Prince Eugene of Savoy liberated it from the Turkish yoke. It received the title of Banat after the peace of Passarowitz (1718) [MC: not true. Already in the autumn of 1698, the Habsburg authorities used, in the drafts papers of the peace treaty negotiations from Karlowitz / Sremski Karlovci: "Temesiensem Banatum". The peace treaty was signed on 26.01.1699 and here "Temeschvarerische Lander", "Temesvarer Provinz" and "Temescher Bezirk" was used.], and remained under a military administration until 1751, when Maria Theresa introduced a civil administration [MC: not complete. The military border from the south of Banat remained under military administration up to 1873]. During the Turkish occupation the district was nearly depopulated [MC: not quite true], and allowed to lie almost desolate in marsh and heath and forest. Count Claudius Mercy [1666-1734], who was appointed governor of Temesvár in 1720, took numerous measures for the regeneration of the Banat. The marshes hear the Danube and Theiss/Tisa were cleared, roads and canals were built at great expense of labor, German artisans and other settlers were attracted to colonize the district, and agriculture and trade encouraged. Maria Theresa also took a great interest in the Banat, colonized the land belonging to the crown with German peasants, founded many villages, encouraged the exploitation of the mineral wealth of the country, and generally developed the measures introduced by Mercy. In 1779 [MC: in fact, on 1.02.1778] the Banat was again incorporated with Hungary. After the revolution of 1848-'49, the Banat together with another county (Bács) was separated from Hungary, and created into a distinctive Austrian crown land, but in 1860 [MC: not quite true; between 27.12.1860-1919 Banat was formally a part of Hungary; starting 1868 inside the imperial dualism of Austro-Hungary Monarchy] it was definitely incorporated with Hungary [MC: not quite true; only 8 years later, after WWI, Banat will be split in 3 parts and Hungary received 1% of the Banat].
See:
-Leonhard [aka Lénárt] Böhm [B 25.11.1833, Bela Crkva; D 26.12.1924, Bela Crkva], "Geschichte des Temeser Banats" [2 vol., Leipzig, 1861]
-Johann Heinrich [aka János Henrik] Schwicker [B 28.04.1839, Dudestii Noi; D 7.07.1902, Budapest], "Geschichte des Temeser Banats" [Grosz-Becskerek, 1861 or Pest, 1872]
Original: http://9.1911encyclopedia.org/B/BA/BAN.htm and http://12.1911encyclopedia.org/B/BA/BANAT.htm