The cemetery, of 'ryelkeepers and gobblers'

During plague epidemics, the bodies of the dead were buried as much as possible according to the normal Catholic burial ritual. It was often not possible to celebrate a full funeral service and the priest limited himself to the 'absoute', the supplication for the judgment of God and a final tribute to the body of the deceased.

The laying of the bodies was often done by religious, such as the Grey Sisters and the Capuchins. The latter washed the corpses, coffined them, and carried them on a bier to the cemetery, often during the twilight hours when the city was quiet and deserted. The long, dark leather clothing, the hood pulled over the head and perhaps also a beak with herbs, reminded this sad procession of crows, 'des corbaux'. It is no coincidence that the word 'corbillard' for hearse would come from this.

Religious were not always available. Thus we read: "In 1575 the plague broke out here in the city, which snatched away most of the population. [..] So affectionate was the disease that no one dared to approach the houses where it made its victims; The sick and dead were left uncared for and unburied [..]. The magistrate of the city, in this dismal condition, compelled by circumstances to take an extraordinary measure, proclaimed that those who should bury the corpses might appropriate all these goods after the extinction of a family. A few persons answered the call; They were called gobblers or croque-morts. [..] According to tradition, it happened that they themselves did not always wait until the sick had given the last gasp to nail him into the coffin and go with him to the churchyard.

The parish of Our Lady in Aarschot was very large and the corpses were brought here from far away. When a severe epidemic of dysentery broke out in 1783, it was forbidden to transport the bodies. For Begijnendijk, this was the moment to bury the dead at the St. Lucia Chapel. This was a first step towards an independent parish.

Sick people who died in the hospital were buried on that site. There were no less than four cemeteries there. When, at the beginning of the 18th century, many French soldiers stayed in the hospital and died, mass graves were opened for as many as 24 men in which the corpses were buried bound in straw.

Jan Rymenams