Fringe-like plaiting and braiding adorned the costumes of the time and were captured in their stone statuary. About 1200 A.D., Arabian weavers are thought to have developed macrame in the form we know it today. They finished off woven pieces of fabric by using knotting to make elaborate fringes. By the 1600's the word macrame became the word for the fringe on a towel. About that time macrame knotting developed as a form of lace, alongside bobbin lace and needle lace.
Macrame is present in every culture in one form or another.
Some of the best examples of the beauty and function of macrame is aboard ships. Responsible for the spread of the craft to seaports around the world, seagoing vessels use macrame for many things. As mats on slippery decks, grips for hand holds, coverings for glass bottles to protect them from shattering and many other useful and decorative purposes. Fishermen's wives make nets of macrame and the Nuns in Genoa are still knotting the trimmings for religious garments and linens for the Church. I was first introduced to knotting by my grandmother who made beautiful hand made lace.