Gerry's Collection
of Antique Wax Seal Stamps
de Banne d'Avejan Family
and its allied families de La Fare and d'Estaing.
de Banne, one of the oldest families of the Vivarais.
The de Banne family is one of the oldest noble families of the Vivarais region. Its name is derived from a locality known as Banna or Bana, which in the regional language signifies “corne” (horn in English). This etymology is reflected in the family's heraldic arms, which notably feature a half-stag horn.
The family produced multiple branches over the centuries. The earliest known member is Arnaud de Banne, mentioned in 1181. However, the branch known as de Banne d’Avéjan traces its origin to Pierre I de Banne, often referred to as Pierre I de Banne d’Avéjan, who is generally recognized as the founder of the d’Avéjan line.​​
The is the first recorded ancestor tied to the fief of Avéjan, located in the present-day Gard department, near Saint-Jean-de-Maruéjols. The family held a variety of noble titles, including Barons of Ferreyrolles, Seigneurs of Avéjan, later elevated to comtes (counts) and marquis d’Avéjan. Among the notable members were Claude de Banne (c. 1530-1604), baron of Ferreyrolles, and his sons Denis de Banne (1639-1707), comte d’Avéjan and Grand-Croix of the Order of Saint-Louis, and Louis de Banne d’Avéjan (1683-1738), who was created marquis d’Avéjan in 1732, baron of Ferreyrolles, and a high-ranking officer in the royal army. Several branches of the family developed over time, including the Ferreyrolles–Avéjan branch, known for military service and noble distinctions, and the Montgros–Lignemaille branch, descending from Néstor de Banne.​​
The de Banne family, particularly the de Banne d’Avéjan branch, possessed several castles and noble residences in southern France, especially in the Vivarais, Cévennes, and Gard regions. Some of these estates still stand today, though in various states of preservation. The Château de Ferreyrolles is ruined but still partially standing. The de Banne family held the barony of Ferreyrolles from the Middle Ages onward. It was one of their main seigneurial seats, particularly for the line of Claude de Banne and his descendants.
The Château d’Avéjan (Saint-Jean-de-Maruéjols-et-Avéjan, Gard) has been restored and classified as a Monument Historique. The castle was the main seat of the de Banne d’Avéjan family. Pierre I de Banne established this fief in the 14th century. Later generations, including comtes and marquis d’Avéjan, maintained this estate.
The Château de Montgros is cited in some genealogies as part of the Montgros–Lignemaille branch of the de Banne family. It may have been a lesser seigneurial manor, now integrated into farmland or local villages.
The coat of arms of the de Banne d'Avejan also shows the arms of two other families, part of their genealogy: The de la Fare and the d'Estaing families.
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In 1635, Jacques de Banne d'Avejan indeed married with Marguerite de la Fare.
The de La Fare family is a surviving family of the French nobility, originally from the village of Saint-André-de-Valborgne, in the Cévennes region of the Gard. It produced two ecclesiastical peers of France, chamberlains, gentlemen of the chamber, a Marshal of France, lieutenant generals, king’s lieutenants, commanders and governors, bishops, and a cardinal archbishop. In the 17th century, there existed branches at Chausse, Montclar, Tornac, Salendrinque, Lasalle, Alès, La Tour, Saint-Marcel-d'Ardèche, and Vénéjan. This family survives in Argentina, descended from Christian Louis Anne Henri de La Fare, who emigrated to Latin America in the 19th century. In France, the name de La Fare has been continued by adoption through the Hamel family, which became Hamel de La Fare.
The d'Estaing family is an extinct family of the French nobility, originally from Estaing in the Aveyron region. Among its members were prelates and high-ranking military officers. It became extinct in the legitimate male line in 1794, with the execution of Admiral Charles Henri d'Estaing.
The presence of the d'Estaing family in the de Banne d'Avejan lineage like comes from the marriage of Claude de Banne (c.1530–1604) and Dauphine de Montcalm (née de Montcalm‑Gozon) in 1567. The d’Estaing family, originally from Estaing in Rouergue (Aveyron), was one of the most prestigious noble families in the region. Their lands bordered or overlapped with those of the Montcalm-Gozon and Gozon families. Both families (Montcalm and d’Estaing) often held high ecclesiastical and military offices and belonged to the same elite circle of Catholic nobility during the Wars of Religion and into the Bourbon period. While a direct marriage between Dauphine de Montcalm and a d’Estaing is not documented, genealogical evidence suggests that the Montcalm-Gozon family and the d’Estaing family were related through collateral branches, likely via the Gozon line. The Montcalms and d’Estaings also shared common ancestors or intertwined kinship ties through female lines, as was common in Languedoc nobility. Because of this proximity and possible inheritance rights or prestige, families like de Banne d’Avéjan, through Dauphine de Montcalm, later included the arms of d’Estaing in their quarterings, not necessarily due to direct male-line descent, but through matrilineal connection or dynastic alliance.
The connection between the de Banne d’Avéjan family and the d’Estaing and de La Fare families lies in strategic noble marriages in the early modern period. These alliances were commemorated heraldically in the quartering of arms on the de Banne family coat of arms.
In French heraldry, it was common for noble families to quarter or combine coats of arms when a marriage brought prestige, estates, or dynastic claims. This was especially true when marrying into a more senior noble house, or one that had become extinct in the male line, preserving its memory and status.
Gerry's Collection of Antique Seal Stamps.