Peter the Great’s “Beard Tax”

Have you ever heard of Russian Tsar Peter the Great’s “Grand Embassy Tour?”

Peter the Great explored Europe in disguise to find useful information and cultural differences. His main takeaway was shipbuilding in Great Britain, as the Russian Navy was less than average at the time. He also attended museums, factories, arsenals, schools, and more.

When he returned to Russia, he implemented many reforms to better fit in with Europe, but did you know that one of these reforms was to ban beards throughout Russia?

Peter the Great declared that all Russian men shave their beards clean, and the Russian Orthodox church argued that it was blasphemous to parade a naked face around.

Eventually the tsar realized that he could profit from this, so he implemented a beard tax. Merchants and nobles paid a higher tax than commoners, and they received tokens of lawful beard-keeping in exchange: silver for nobles, copper for commoners.