As hard as it may be to believe, there was an actual tax called the Beard Tax.
King Henry VIII imposed beard tax in 1535 to abolish wearing beards, even though he himself wore a beard.
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| King Henry VIII taxed beards even though he wore one too |
In 1698, Peter the Great created a beard tax to abolish beard-wearing because he was trying to westernize Russian nobility.
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| Peter The Great, Tsar of Russia |
The amount of the tax to be paid depended on the beard wearer's social position. The higher he was in society, the larger tax he had to pay. This made facial hair a status symbol.
Henry VIII's daughter, Queen Elizabeth I of England brought the beard tax back.
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| Queen Elizabeth I of England |
She was very strict and taxed anyone with a beard longer than two week's growth. Facial hair was no longer a status symbol.
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