That Time Russia Had a Beard Tax
Peter the Great's decades-long battle against the bearded
Following a secret trip to Europe, Tsar Peter the Great instituted a beard tax that lasted 74 years, this is that story.
Part 1: Peter visits Europe, learns that beards are lame
In 1697, Peter the Great went on an undercover trip to several Western European countries to learn how to modernize Russia. He took on a fake name and went with a ‘Grand Embassy’ of ~250 people.1
Spending over a year on this trip, he studied shipbuilding, their ways of government, and other characteristics of the Western Europeans.2 Seeing that the Western Europeans were clean-shaven, he decided to emulate that in Russia with a ban on beards. His anti-beard plan was set in motion the day after he returned.
As a witness recalls, “Boyars and principal Muscovites flocked in numbers at an early hour to the place where it had become known he had spent the night.”3 This turned into a sort of impromptu welcome-home party. Peter greeted them and then “suddenly produced a long, sharp barber's razor and with his own hands began shaving off their beards.”4 One by one, everyone in attendance was forced to part with their beard (only three people were spared).
Not a week after his return, Peter was invited to a banquet by Aleksei Shein, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian army. At the banquet, he had his court jester go around the room and shave everyone. Peter made sure to personally slap anyone who seemed reluctant to shave.5
Government officials were given orders to shave the beard off any man they encountered, no matter how important he was. This was difficult for the Russian people to bear and eventually Peter grew a bit more lenient. He repealed the ban and replaced it with a tax.6
Part 2: The beard tax is implemented
Peter the Great’s beard tax was a progressive tax, meaning richer people paid more. Here’s the breakdown by cost:
100 Rubles per year for noblemen and merchants of St Petersburg
60 Rubles per year for tradesmen and servants of noblemen
30 Rubles per year for residents of Moscow7
1 Kopek (1/100 of a ruble) for peasants. Instead of this being an annual charge, they only had to pay when entering or leaving a city.8
There were guards at the gates of every city and town, tasked with collecting the beard tax. Once someone paid the tax, they would receive a special coin as proof of payment.9 The peasants would get copper coins while the nobility got silver coins.10 The coin would serve as a man’s beard license for the year.
So what did the Russian people think of this? To say the least, they weren’t too pleased.
Part 3: Everyone hates the beard tax
At the time, the Russians viewed beards as sacred. The Russian Orthodox Church taught that a beard was a sign of a devout man.11 Patriarch Adrian stated that “God did not create men beardless, only cats and dogs . . . the shaving of beards is not only foolishness and a dishonour, it is a mortal sin.”12
Many men were afraid that without their beards, they wouldn’t be let into heaven when they died. Some decided to save their beards after cutting them so they could be buried with their beard in their coffin. That way, there would be a chance of having their beard in the afterlife.13
After the tax was established, a rumor began that Peter wasn’t the real Tsar, but a replacement installed by Russia’s enemies.14 Some people even dropped letters in the streets addressed to the Tsar, calling him a tyrant and a heathen for making them shave their beards.15
The beard tax remained in place for 74 years until it was repealed in 1772 by Catherine the Great.16
Eschner, Kat. “Why Peter the Great Established a Beard Tax.” Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Sept. 2017, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-tsar-peter-great-established-beard-tax-180964693/.
Grey, Ian. Peter the Great: Emperor of All Russia. J.B. Lippincott Company, 1960, p. 99.
Korb, Johann Georg. Diary of an Austrian Secretary of Legation at the Court of Czar Peter the Great. Translated by Count MacDonnell, vol. 1, London, Bradbury & Evans, 1863, p. 155.
Massie, Robert K. Peter the Great: His Life and World. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1980, p. 234.
Ibid., p. 235.
Ibid.
Corson, Richard. Fashions in Hair: The First Five Thousand Years. New York, Hillary House Publishers, 1971, p. 220.
Walsh, Devan. Analysis of Peter the Great’s Social Reforms and the Justification of the Reactions from the General Public. 2012, p. 11, https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1267&context=his.
Corson, Richard. Fashions in Hair: The First Five Thousand Years. New York, Hillary House Publishers, 1971, p. 220.
Eschner, Kat. “Why Peter the Great Established a Beard Tax.” Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Sept. 2017, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-tsar-peter-great-established-beard-tax-180964693/.
Soth, Amelia. “Peter the Great’s Beard Tax.” JSTOR Daily, 22 July 2021, https://daily.jstor.org/peter-the-greats-beard-tax/.
Grey, Ian. Peter the Great: Emperor of All Russia. J.B. Lippincott Company, 1960, p. 138.
Walsh, Devan. Analysis of Peter the Great’s Social Reforms and the Justification of the Reactions from the General Public. 2012, p. 12, https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1267&context=his.
Soth, Amelia. “Peter the Great’s Beard Tax.” JSTOR Daily, 22 July 2021, https://daily.jstor.org/peter-the-greats-beard-tax/.
Dmytryshyn, Basil. Modernization of Russia under Peter I and Catherine II. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1974, p. 19.
Mancini, Mark. “The Time Peter the Great Declared War on Facial Hair.” Mental Floss, 29 Mar. 2014, https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/55772/time-peter-great-declared-war-facial-hair.