The Medieval Rose Association (M.R.A.) designed a project, using the Time Travel method (invented by Ebbe Westergren for the Bridging Ages network), inspired by the poem "The Plague of Rhodes" by Emmanouil Georgillas-Limenitis, a 15th c. scholar and clergyman.

For this, the M.R.A. addressed an invitation to school teachers and instructors from all forms of education (scouts etc.), in order to introduce them to the method and to encourage them to take part in the Time Travel activity, so to learn it in practice and then be able to create their own Time Travel projects with their students/pupils/learners.

Thus, on November 26th, 2022, an introduction seminar was held on the Time Travel method at the Bastion of St. George, in the Medieval City of Rhodes, to prepare the participants for the project.

On November 30th and December 1st, online meetings were held with all the trainees that were separated in groups and relevant informational material was sent to them by email. On December 3rd, a preparatory meeting was held where the groups got to know each other and their roles and topics were discussed in detail.

On December 4th, the Time Travel activity took place in the St. George’s Bastion. The participants took part in a role-play game: dressed in period clothes, they “traveled” to the Middle Ages, one morning in the city market, specifically in the year 1499, when Rhodes was plagued by the Black Death and the population had been decimated.

Unfolding the poem of Emmanuel Georgillas, they experienced the tragic consequences of the plague in their lives: the worry, the insecurity, the measures taken by the Knights to limit the spread of the pandemic and the relief of the sick but also the possible interpretations for the evil that intruded their lives. There was a reflection to the recent coronavirus pandemic, which affected the lives of people and changed their habits, commercial and social relations, economy and health parameters in Rhodes, Greece and the world.

With the completion of the re-enactments, an on-site evaluation of the project was carried out by the participating groups. They presented the arguments, opinions and different points of view that were formulated, resulting in valuable conclusions, which will be included in a general review and presented by the Medieval Rose in a public.

*Medieval Rose members were trained on the Time Travel method during a "Bridging Ages" conference in Giresun, in 2022, with the support of ERASMUS+ program (KA122)