 There was a Geneva-wide fast in the beginning of October 1567 as a sign of friendship with Protestants undergoing persecution in Lyon, France and this was most likely the first "Jeûne genevois" (Genevan fast).Five years later, news of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre and the slaughter of several thousand Huguenots beginning on 24 August 1572 triggered a fast throughout Geneva on the following 3 September, which could be why the date of later yearly fasts was shifted forward by almost a month.By 1640, through sway of the reformed cantons, the fast had become yearly and was carried on even after the Genevan revolution of 1792.