A Ban

1. Prohibition.
2. A public proclamation or edict; a summons by public proclamation. Chiefly, in early use, a summons to arms.
3. The gathering of the (French) king's vassals for war; the whole body of vassals so assembled, or liable to be summoned; originally, the same as arrière-ban: in the 16th c., French usage created a distinction between ban and arrière-ban, for which see the latter word.*He has sent abroad to assemble his ban and arriere ban.
4. (obsolete) A curse or anathema.
5. A pecuniary mulct or penalty laid upon a delinquent for offending against a ban, such as a mulct paid to a bishop by one guilty of sacrilege or other crimes.