The French brotherhood burying the dead – rich or poor - since 1188

To the sound of a single tolling bell, the brothers of the Confrérie des Charitables de Saint-Éloi, in capes, white gloves and bicornes, lift the coffin from a wooden cart and lower it into the ground.

Standing over the grave they remove their hats, say “requiescat in pace” (rest in peace) in unison and bow their heads. It does not matter whether the deceased is rich or poor, the solemn ritual is the same and has been since 1188.

“We are all equal in death,” says the current chief brother, known as a “prévost”, Robert Guenot, 72, echoing the centuries-old precept of those known as “the Charitables” in the northern French town of Béthune.

“Our role is to be present to ensure the dead are given a correct, dignified burial, whoever they are. It is a role of paying respect to the deceased that the brotherhood has carried out for more than 830 years,” Guenot told the Guardian.

The Charitables trace their history back to 1188, when the north of France, along with much of Europe, was ravaged by plague and gravediggers found themselves overwhelmed by the number of corpses and fearful of being infected themselves.

Legend has it that two blacksmiths, Gauthier de Béthune and Germon de Beuvry, saw Saint-Éloi, also known as Saint Eligius, the patron saint of artisan iron and steel workers, in their dreams. The apparition ordered them to meet at a local spring and found a charity.

Since then, the Confrérie des Charitables de Saint-Éloi – whose motto is “accuracy, union, charity” – has carried out burials in the area.

Previously a religious organisation, the brotherhood was briefly banned during the French revolution and subsequently reinstated by Napoleon Bonaparte. The tricorne hats the brothers had worn until then were swapped for bicornes as a tribute to Bonaparte.

In 1853, the brotherhood became secular after a falling out with the bishop of Arras, who demanded it be over