He died a poor man and in debt to local company's. Various theories have emerged as to why our man Berenger suddenly got so rich. The most popular is that he stumbled upon a vast hidden treasure, possibly helped by a codex that was discovered in his church by a Mason. This Mason was busy remounting the altar which had fallen into a state of disrepair when he allegedly found a parchment hidden in on of the pillars. Supposed copies of this parchment are in existence and have been decoded to show the following message:

BERGER PAS DE TENTATION QUE POUSSIN
TENIERS GARDENT LA CLEF PAX DCLXXXI PAR LA
CROIX ET CE CHEVAL DE DIEU J'ACHEVE CE
DAEMON DE GARDIEN A MIDI POMMES BLEUES.

Arguably translated as:

SHEPHERDESS NO TEMPTATION THAT POUSSIN
TENIERS HOLD THE KEY PEACE 681 BY THE CROSS
AND THIS HORSE OF GOD I COMPLETE* THIS
DAEMON GUARDIAN AT MIDDAY BLUE APPLES
* Can be translated as Destroy.

The system used for decoding this was extremely complex and most cipher makers these days consider the system to be too complicated for even military needs.

Et in Arcadia Ego - Il Guercino

Who are Poussin & Teniers?
Well they were artists who were well known for their interest in secret knowledge. It is now widely believed that the key to the mystery lies in unravelling the clues in "The Shepherds of Arcadia" which had been painted in various versions by both artists. The actual decoding of the cipher was provided by a gentleman by the name of De Sede who is a French writer. He seems to have links with a secret society known as the Priory of Sion.

This secret society, if it still exists in its original form, are out to have the Merovingian dynasty placed back in their rightful place on the French throne. They may have problems here though as France has been a republic for a little while. The Merovingians, it has been suggested, are the true descendants of Christ. Suggested by them and not many others it should be said however!

The Tomb Of God - Richard Andrews & Paul Schellenberger

This mystery has all the hallmarks of a good thriller. There are twists and turns, secret messages and possibly secret knowledge, hidden caves and mysterious references to local landmarks. A lot of work has been done on the theory that the secret is contained within the surrounding geography. Books written by Henry Lincoln, Richard Andrews & Paul Schellenberger and various others deal with the geographical aspects in very deep and convincing ways.

So many theories which can be well proved with geometry, lore, history and various other means quite often require standing back a few feet and asking "are you for real?". I love a good mystery as do many people but there is a limit to how much one can take.

Aside from all this intrigue we should remember that Berenger did become fabulously wealthy all of a sudden and he must have got this from somewhere. After all he refused to say where it was from, and I would hope that as a man of the cloth, he did not receive it from illicit means.

There are glaring similarities between the decipherment of the document and points around the local area, especially things in Berengers church. These things were not placed in to the church until he started spending his money.

Shepherdess no temptation that Poussin Teniers hold the key.....
It is thought that Berenger viewed the paintings by Poussin and Teniers on his many visits to Paris. He also bought copies of the paintings to take back to Rennes. There is a certain geometry to the paintings of the Arcadian Shepherds which if overlaid on a map of the area point to other points of the decryption.

Peace 681... A spot height of 682 Mtrs is on one of the points of the pentagram, discovered in the landscape. It was originally thought to be 681 Mtrs until modern surveying methods showed up the error.

Key to the Sacred Pattern - Henry Lincoln