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Body hair
Trends with body hair in the middle ages

PLEASE NOTE:
THIS PAGE CONTAINS ADULT THEMES!

Body hair is something that appears to have been shunned in artworks during the medieval period.

Pictured at right is a detail from the illuminated "Book Of Hours For Bourges Use" dated 1500 and made in France. Although the time period is towards the end of the medieval and start of the renaissance periods, the woman still upholds the traits deemed desirable and beautiful- pale, white skin, small upright breasts, generous hips, high forehead and blonde hair.

Contemporary artworks, when they show the female pudenda at all, show it clear from any growth of hair. Since the general practice of tweezing the hairline to achieve a fashionable look was popular, it is not a far stretch to imagine that women removed the unwanted hair which they grew at the onset of puberty.

Written information in this area is exceedingly sparse. A written reference to female pubic hair I have found is in the telling of the tale of Griselda, a popular story many times retold, of a cruel husband and his submissive and enduring wife. In one version, the husband Gualtieri discusses the type of woman who when turned out of her house in only a chemise would "warm her wool" or "rub her pelt" against another man to procure fine clothing. It is fairly certain the the "wool" and "pelt" referred to is the woman's pubic hair. From this we can ascertain that at least some women retained their hair.

To counter this view, Erasmus in his work "The Praise of Folly" speaks of an old woman buying herself a younger lover saying:

"Nowadays any old dotard with one foot in the grave can marry a juicy young girl, even if she has no dowry.. But best of all is to see the old women, almost dead and looking like skeletons who have crapt out of their graves, still mumbling "Life is sweet!" As old as they are, they are still in heat still seducing some young Phaon they have hired for large sums of money. Every day they plaster themselves with makeup and tweeze their pubic hairs; they expose their sagging breasts and try to arouse desire with their thin voices."

Even though this text was written in 1509, it shows that at that point, it was normal for a woman to be sans pubic hair. Whether this extended to the peasantry is doubtful and whether it extended to the European countries can only be guessed at.

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