February 17, 2008 - Reynolds on Forced Shaving - 0 Comments

"There was an old law of the Alemanni which ran: Si Barbam alicujus tonderit non volentis, cum sex solidis componat, that is to say that the fine for shaving a man against his will was fixed at six gold coins. And in later years the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, who had clearly a vested interest, fixed the fine for this offence at twenty pounds, with ten pounds damages to the victim. Fines were, in fact, frequently mentioned, among old Teutonic laws, for forcible shaving as an injury and insult."

- Reginald Reynolds, Beards: Their social standing, religious involvements, decorative possibilities, and value in offence and defence through the ages, 1949