Francesco Pisani

Francesco Pisani (1494 – 28 June 1570) was an Italian Cardinal, born in Venice, the son of Alvise Pisani the noted banker, who was Procurator of S. Mark's, a member of the Council of Ten, and a Councilor of the Doge of Venice; and Cecilia Giustinian. He had a brother named Giovanni (Zuan), who also became Procurator of S. Marks' and was a Venetian diplomat; he was married to the sister of Doge Andrea Gritti. He was a strong supporter of the alliance between Venice, France and the Papacy, called the League of Cognac. He shared the imprisonment of Pope Clement VII in the Castel S. Angelo during the Sack of Rome and its aftermath. He spent eighteen months in exile in Naples while Clement made his peace with the Emperor Charles V.

Nothing is known about his education.

Francesco had been named a Protonotary Apostolic, the highest grade of monsignor, giving him the rank of a prelate. He was created a cardinal-deacon by Pope Leo X, in the Consistory of 1 July 1517, at the request of Doge Leonardo Loredan, and assigned the Deaconry of S. Teodoro. The red hat is said to have cost his father 20,000 gold ducats and a ruby. The new cardinal was not in Rome at the time, and the red hat was brought to him in Venice; it was presented on Sunday, 23 August 1517. On 27 August 1518, the Venetian Council voted to give possession of the Benedictine abbey of S. Stefano di Spalato, on the death of its abbot, to Cardinal Pisani. Pisani was appointed Bishop of Padua on 8 August 1524.

In 1526, during the invasion of the city of Rome on 20–21 September, led by Cardinal Pompeo Colonna, Pisani sheltered the Venetian Ambassador in the Palazzo Venezia. On 28 September 1526, he was named Administrator of the diocese of Città Nova (Aemonensis, in Istria), which he finally resigned in 1535.

On 27 February 1527, Cardinal Pisani was granted the Deaconry of S. Maria in Porticu. He was promoted Cardinal-Deacon of San Marco, the traditional Venetian church in Rome, which is normally the titulus of a cardinal-priest, on 3 May 1527 by Pope Clement VII, just three days before the Sack of Rome began. He kept the Deaconry of S. Maria in Porticu in commendam. Two days later he was finally consecrated bishop.

On the morning of 6 May, as the assault on Rome began, Cardinal Pisani was at the Vatican Palace, to participate in the Pope's morning Mass. He was with the Pope to witness the assault, and fled with the Pope through the covered passage to the Castel S. Angelo. He was Pope Clement's fellow prisoner in the Castel S. Angelo during the Sack of Rome in May 1527, and its aftermath. In September 1527, Giovanni (Zuan) Pisani, the brother of Cardinal Francesco, reported to the Signoria of Venice that he had word that the Pope had appointed his brother Archbishop of Vienne, and that the Pope was writing to the King of France for his consent. Pope Clement finally concluded a treaty (i.e. surrendered) to the Spanish at the end of November. At the beginning of December 1527, the two leaders of the French and Venetian factions in the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Pisani and Cardinal Trivulzio, were taken to Gaeta, and from there sent to Naples as hostages for the Pope's good behavior. It was reported to the Signoria of Venice that, on 2 December 1527 Cardinal Pisani freely renounced the See of Padua in favor of his nephew Alvise di Giovanni Pisani; the Signoria ordered the Rector of Padua to hand over the diocese either to Alvise (Luigi) Pisani or his Procurator. The younger Alviso was only twelve years old, and his uncle the Cardinal continued to administer the diocese until his own death. On 27 January 1528, Cardinal Pisani was appointed Administrator of the diocese of Treviso. Nonetheless, Cardinal Francesco was a hostage for the good behavior of the Pope, being kept in Naples for eighteen months. Pisani's father, Alvise, was Commissary General of the French-Venetian armies fighting the Spanish in the Kingdom of Naples, where he died of disease in August 1528.

In 1529 Cardinal Pisani obtained the Deaconry of Sant' Agata in Suburra, probably in commendam, since he continued to style himself Cardinal Deacon of S. Marco. He held the Deaconry until 1545.

On 1 April 1535 Cardinal Francesco Pisano, Cardinal Deacon of S. Marco, who was possessor of the faculty of disposing of certain benefices in the Cathedrals of Padua and Treviso, which had been granted him by Popes Clement VII and Paul III, renounced those privileges in order to conform with the desire of the Signoria of Venice.