Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence, was the widower of Elizabeth of Ulster, and his second wife, Zolante, was the sister of Giovanni Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan. The latter nuptials were celebrated at Milan with great pomp. The most illustrious personages were invited from every part of Europe; tournaments, balls, and other diversions, occupied the guests, who were all furnished with splendid apartments, till the whole company being assembled, Giovanni Galeazzo conducted the newly-married couple from the church to his palace. In one immense hall were laid out a hundred tables for the most distinguished guests, including the mightiest princes in Italy, the most beautiful women, and the most celebrated characters of the age; among whom we must not omit to mention Francesco Petrarca. Other tables were placed in the adjoining apartments. Seneschals, in the most sumptuous dresses, brought in the massive dishes of gold and silver. The cup-bearers performed their duties on horseback, galloping round the hall and handing the choicest wines in costly vases of gold, silver, or crystal. This custom of servants waiting at table on horseback appears singular in our time, but it serves to give an idea of the splendour of other days and the enormous size of the apartments. It also tends to explain why most of the noble mansions still extant from the time of which we speak, instead of a staircase, have a gradual ascent of bricks, generally leading to a hall of large dimensions. And frequently we see evident tokens that flights of steps have been substituted in later times. The banquet consisted of eighteen courses; and between each course presents of various kinds were offered to the bridegroom, or distributed by him; so that before the dinner had ended, Lionel had presented every individual around him with some article of value, besides 600 richly embroidered garments which he had given to the mimes and players engaged for the occasion.