text: In medieval England, Opus Anglicanum, a technique used by professional workshops and guilds in medieval England, was used to embellish textiles used in church rituals. In 16th century England, some books, usually bibles or other religious texts, had embroidered bindings. The Bodleian Library in Oxford contains one presented to Queen Elizabeth I in 1583. It also owns a copy of The Epistles of Saint Paul, whose cover was reputedly embroidered by the Queen.
  In 18th-century England and its colonies, with the rise of the merchant class and the wider availability of luxury materials, rich embroideries began to appear in a secular context. These embroideries took the form of items displayed in private homes of well-to-do citizens, as opposed to a church or royal setting. Even so, the embroideries themselves may still have had religious themes. Samplers employing fine silks were produced by the daughters of wealthy families. Embroidery was a skill marking a girl's path into womanhood as well as conveying rank and social standing.
  Embroidery was an important art and signified social status in the Medieval Islamic world as well. The 17th-century Turkish traveler Evliya Çelebi called it the "craft of the two hands". In cities such as Damascus, Cairo and Istanbul, embroidery was visible on handkerchiefs, uniforms, flags, calligraphy, shoes, robes, tunics, horse trappings, slippers, sheaths, pouches, covers, and even on leather belts. Craftsmen embroidered items with gold and silver thread. Embroidery cottage industries, some employing over 800 people, grew to supply these items.
  In the 16th century, in the reign of the Mughal Emperor Akbar, his chronicler Abu al-Fazl ibn Mubarak wrote in the famous Ain-i-Akbari: