Francesco I Gattilusio

The parents of Francesco and his brother Niccolò are not known, although based on the heraldic evidence of their inscriptions, Anthony Luttrell argues that their mother was a member of the Doria family.

They claimed that one of their ships was sinking and requested help in salvaging the cargo from shipwreck, and promised a share of it to the sentries of the city for their help.

In 1366, Francesco joined with Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy and Louis I of Hungary in a campaign to restore the stability of the Byzantine Empire.

[3] In October Amadeus and Gattilusio fleet going to Black Sea coast of Bulgaria and captured several castles and coastal towns like Skafida, Sozopol, Mesembria, Emona and Anchialo.

In a letter he wrote from Constantinople soon after the event, Kydones describes how the two dead sons' prospective brides arrived from afar and searched among the ruins for the bodies of the intended husbands they had never seen.