Bánk of the Bár-Kalán clan (; died after 1222) was an influential nobleman in the Kingdom of Hungary in the first decades of the 13th century. He was Palatine of Hungary between 1212 and 1213, Judge royal from 1221 till 1222, and Ban of Slavonia between 1208 and 1209 and in 1217. He was also ispán of at least eight counties in the first decades of the 13th century. According to later tradition, Queen Gertrude of Merania's brother raped Bánk's wife, which caused her assassination in 1213. He is the subject of the play Bánk bán by József Katona, and of the opera of the same name by Ferenc Erkel. Family According to the 14th-century Illuminated Chronicle and Henry of Mügeln's Ungarnchronik, Bánk (Banc or Banco) was born into the gens (clan) Bár-Kalán. His parentage is unknown. The Bár-Kaláns belonged to the ancient Hungarian clans. They considered Ond, one of the seven chieftains, who led the Hungarians into the Pannonian Basin in the late 9th century, as their ancestor. Historian János Karácsonyi expressed doubts about the authenticity of this data since the clans's landholdings laid mostly in Baranya, Csongrád and Esztergom counties, but Bánk possessed estates in the other part of the kingdom, in Szabolcs, Bereg and Gömör counties. Based on this, historian Attila Zsoldos also questioned his belonging to the Bár-Kalán kindred. In contrast, historian Tamás Körmendi argued Bánk acquired the latter lands through royal donations of King Andrew II of Hungary for his court service, which does not rule out that he has amassed wealth in other parts of Hungary. Bánk's marriage with an unidentified lady produced a daughter. She get married to a certain Simon. Early historiography identified Bánk's son-in-law with Simon Kacsics, a possible participant of the assassination of Queen Gertrude. However, as historian Gyula Pauler proved, while Simon Kacsics had descendants (his last known offspring was still alive in 1299), Bánk's son-in-law, a certain Simon, who was mentioned by a royal charter of Stephen V from 1270, and who possibly also participated in the murder of Queen Gertrude, died without issue. Career Until the early 19th century, several Hungarian historians incorrectly identified Bánk Bár-Kalán and his contemporary Benedict, son of Korlát to be one person, based on the erroneous conclusion that the name Banco was considered to be a version of Benedict. However, the two persons appear in a half-dozen charters simultaneously, so identification can