How did men begin shaving their beards?

In ancient times, when an important person was shown, he was usually shown with a “beard” as it was considered a sign of manhood. The Greek God, Zeus, was shown with a beard; drawings representing god showered a beard; Abraham, King Arthur, Charlemagne were always pictured with beards!

In western civilization there is no general rule about beards. Long before the conquest of England by the Normans, the beard was considered unfashionable and not worn by men. Then the style changed and beards became popular again! The kings of England, who set the fashions that men followed, varied in their taste for beards. For example, Henry II had no beard, Richard II had a small beard, Henry III had a long beard.

By the middle of the thirteenth century, most men were wearing full and curled beards, and it was common in the 14th century. Then beard disappeared again during the 15th century, and slowly began to come back into style with the 15th century, and slowly began to come back into style with the 16th century. It was Henry VIII who made the beard fashionable again. During the time of Queen Elizabeth, lawyers, soldiers, courtiers, and merchants, all had beards. But when Anne became queen of England, nobody wore either a beard or moustache, or whiskers! Actually, when George III was imprisoned and his beard was allowed to grow, many of his followers felt this was the most insulating thing of all! So you see that shaving the beard off for a man has been simply a question of style.