(click on the picture to enlarge it)

A short wiki-information:

"Gingerbread was brought to Europe by the Crusaders.

The town of Market Drayton in Shropshire is known as the "home of gingerbread" and this is proudly decreed on the welcome sign. The first recorded mention of gingerbread being baked in the town dates back to 1793; however, it was probably made earlier as ginger was stocked in high street businesses from the 1640s. Gingerbread became widely available in the 1700s.[1]

Originally, the term gingerbread (from Latin zingiber via Old French gingebras) referred to preserved ginger, then to a confection made with honey and spices. Gingerbread is often translated into French as pain d'épices (literally bread of spices). Pain d'épices is a French pastry also made with honey and spices, but not crispy"!!!!
(Wikipedia)

mmmh recipe: Gingerbread recipe by Stephanie Jaworski: