Transylvania and literature as a land of mystery and magic. For example, in Paulo Coelho's novel "The Witch of Portobello", the main character, Sherine Khalil, is described as a Transylvanian orphan with a Romani mother, in an effort to add to the character's exotic mystique. The so-called Transylvanian trilogy of historical novels by Miklos Banffy, "The Writing on the Wall", is an extended treatment of the 19th- and early 20th-century social and political history of the country. Among the first actors to portray Dracula in film was Bela Lugosi, who was born in Banat, in present-day Romania. Transylvania Transylvania is a
History of Transylvania organization of the Transylvanian Catholic episcopacy (with Gyulafehérvár as its seat), which was finished in 1009 when the bishop of Ostia (as papal legate) visited Stephen and they approved diocesan divisions and boundaries. In 1018 Stephen defeated Ahtum, ruler of the country around the lower Mureș River. According to the "Chronicon Pictum", Stephen I also defeated the legendary Kean (a ruler in southern Transylvania of Bulgarians and Slavs). During the 12th century, the Székelys were brought to eastern and southeastern Transylvania as border guards. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the areas in the south and northeast were settled by