In Arthurian legend, Ban ˈbæn is the King of Benwick or Benoic. He is the father of Sir Lancelot

Lancelot

Sir Lancelot du Lac is one of the Knights of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend. He is the most trusted of King Arthur's knights and plays a part in many of Arthur's victories...

 and Sir Hector de Maris

Hector de Maris

Sir Hector de Maris is a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend. He is the younger half-brother of Lancelot and the natural son of King Ban of Benwick and the Lady de Maris. Sir Bors and Sir Lionel are his cousins....

, the brother of King Bors

Bors

Bors circa 540s-580s, is the name of two knights in the Arthurian legend, one the father and one the son. Bors the Elder is the King of Gaunnes or Gaul during the early period of King Arthur's reign, and is the brother of King Ban of Benoic. Gaunnes is the Fredemundian dynastic kingdom of Neustria...

, and an early ally of King Arthur

King Arthur

King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...

.

Ban's wife Elaine

Elaine (legend)

Elaine is a name shared by several different female characters in Arthurian legend.-Elaine of Astolat:Elaine of Astolat, also known in some texts as Elaine the Fair or the Fair Maid of Astolat and as The Lady of Shalott in Lord Alfred Tennyson's same-titled poem, is a maiden who falls in unrequited...

 is the sister to King Bors' wife Evaine

Evaine

Evaine is a queen in Arthurian legend, the sister of Elaine, mother of Lancelot; she and her sister married brother kings and suffered parallel fates, both women losing their husbands and sons and then entering the same convent...

. Together they have Lancelot, but while travelling in Britain

Sub-Roman Britain

Sub-Roman Britain is a term derived from an archaeological label for the material culture of Britain in Late Antiquity: the term "Sub-Roman" was invented to describe the potsherds in sites of the 5th century and the 6th century, initially with an implication of decay of locally-made wares from a...

 in support of Arthur, Ban sleeps with the Lady de Maris, who becomes pregnant with Hector, Lancelot's half-brother. Ban and Bors are eventually killed by their enemy, the Frankish

Franks

The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...

 king Claudas

Claudas

King Claudas is a fictional Frankish king and an opponent to King Arthur, Lancelot, and Bors in Arthurian literature. His kingdom is named "Terre Deserte", or "Land Laid Waste", so called because of the destruction Uther Pendragon had wrought there. Claudas appears as the Round Table's adversary in...

, and Lancelot is taken by the Lady of the Lake

Lady of the Lake

The Lady of the Lake is the name of several related characters who play parts in the Arthurian legend. These characters' roles include giving King Arthur his sword Excalibur, enchanting Merlin, and raising Lancelot after the death of his father...

 to her abode, where he is later joined by Bors the Elder's sons Lionel

Sir Lionel

Sir Lionel is the younger son of King Bors of Gaunnes and Evaine and brother of Bors the Younger in Arthurian legend. He is a double cousin of Lancelot and cousin of Lancelot's younger half-brother Ector de Maris...

 and Bors the Younger. When the children grow up and become Knights of the Round Table, they aid Arthur in finally defeating Claudas and reclaiming their fathers' land.