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.

Wow thank you for being very in depth!