Bána (Bana) was the name of a gens (Latin for "clan"; nemzetség in Hungarian) in the Kingdom of Hungary. According to the tradition the Cseszneky family has descended from the Bána clan.
History The Clan Bána's origin - in György Györffy's opinion - traces back to the 10th century.Györffy György: Az Árpád-kori Magyarország történeti földrajza Another notable historian, Erik Fügedi, suggested that the Clan Bána was a collateral branch of the Clan Katapán (Koppán) descending from the princely house of the Pecheneg Talmat tribe.Fügedi Erik: Ispánok, bárók, kiskirályok, Budapest, 1986 According to the medieval Gesta Hungarorum, Ketel Cuman (in fact Pecheneg or Kabar) khagan joined the people of Hungarian Grand Prince Álmos at Kiev in 884 CE. After the conquest of Hungary, one part of Ketel's clan settled down between Sátorhalom and Tolcsva river, whilst the other part where the Vág river falls into the Danube. At the bank of Vág Ketel's son, Alaptolma constructed the castle of Komárom, where later they were buried in a Pagan way.Anonymus: Gesta Hungarorum, Helikon Könyvkiadó, Budapest 1977 Other historians think that the relationship between the Katapáns and the Bánas was not agnatic rather matrilineal, and the Bánas descended from the Counts of Bana, who were vassals of the Avar Tudun, and as such subvassals of Charlemagne. The Clan Bána had its primeval estates around Bana village and in the Bakony mountains. They were hereditary Wildgraves of Bakony.Czére Zsigmond-Sarkadi Ferenc-Száles Andor: Bana vázlatos története és jelene, Bana, 1959Banai Miklós - Lukács Béla: A Kárpát-medence egysége, Helikon Kiadó, 2010
The direct forefather of the Cseszneky family, Count Apa from the Clan Bána, is mentioned in a document from 1230. In accordance with this record, Pope Gregory IX investigated the complaint of Pannonhalma Abbey, because Count Apa and his son, Jakab had occupied the Benedictines' possessions and fishing places around Gönyű.Wenczel Gusztáv Árpád-kori új okmánytár Another son of Apa, Mihály was mentioned in 1225 as King Andrew II's equerry, and later he rendered great service to King Béla IV during the Mongol invasion.Wenczel Gusztáv Árpád-kori új okmánytár Mihály's son, another Jakab, who was royal swordbearer and lord of Trencsén Castle, constructed Csesznek Castle around 1260. He and his descendants took the name Cseszneky after their ancestral home.Wenczel Gusztáv Árpád-kori új okmánytár
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