How did men shave in medieval times?

Answer 1

Though there were some who went bearded..notably the Templar knights..most among the nobility were shaven. It was fashionable in those times. They visited re-opened Roman baths, and brought the customs of the Islamic peoples home form the first crusades...bathing, etc. It bears noting that one of the reasons that Europeans were not trusted by the Islamic peoples was BECAUSE of their practice of shaving. To them the beard was the manhood...they shaved their heads, not their beards, as well as other places on the body. The baths of Islam were famous in Jerusalem...and were a lavish luxury that the Europeans nobility continued when they returned home..
In some places it was the practice to rub the face with a pumice stone in lieu of a razor. Razors were sort of like the old fashioned razor that barbers used...you know, the one they sharpened on a leather strop? Among the nobility servants shaved them, among the soldiers a knife was often used. The lower classes, for the most part, grew beards, and kept them trimmed close to the face.
It really depended on where you were...the Norse, for one, kept the customs of bushing, unkempt beards.

Answer 2

Medieval Beards

Answer 3

once you hear that they had stable hygiene conduct interior the Medieval era ... shop something in perspective ... people seem to have a creative and prescient that every person people lived in a fortress. an exceedingly, very, very tiny proportion of the inhabitants lived in castles. maximum lived in filthy circumstances. people seem to have this romantic creative and prescient that each little thing replaced into like a renaissance competition. the final inhabitants commonly lived with their farm animals, the circumstances have been such that rats actually expanded and have been a uncomplicated website ... plenty so they helped proleferate fleas and the spreading of the black dying ... the circumstances have been so anti-hygenic that on a similar time as they tried to get rid of the rats the fleas nonetheless had quite some different hosts to holiday upon. the assumption of what led to germs and infectious ailments replaced into foreign places (they even believed that rotten meat finally generated maggots somewhat of being the effect of fly eggs). Human feces and urine replaced into dumped the two into the streets or promptly into their streams ... that they drank from. The circumstances have been deplorable, their medical training replaced into pathetic ... whilst the crusades began the Muslims have been disgusted with the filthy heathons that have been invading their lands. For the main suitable analyze on the hygiene conduct interior the medieval europe ... analyze the crusades and analyze the Muslims observations of their invaders. There are volumes of analyze that lower back up those observations. yet it is in simple terms my opinion.

Answer 4

Something with a sharp edge would be used. Such as a knife or a short sword, or another sharp object for most people. The nobility and the wealthier would use a razor.

Answer 5

@Jo: Razors are known until back in the bronze age. There is no reason why people millenia later wouldn't use a razor too. And even before metallurgy was invented, stone tools are pretty sharp and i guess they would be suited fr shaving too.

Answer 6

My guess is that they probably plucked hairs out (ouch!) since that's what the Greeks and Romans did in classical times.

Answer 7

It's simple- they didn't...they just cut their beard but they couldn't be as smooth as 2day ;))