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 spent eighteen months in exile in Naples while Clement made his peace with the Emperor Charles V. Nothing is known about his education.

He was created a cardinal-deacon by Pope Leo X, in the Consistory of 1 July 1517, at the request of Doge Leonardo Loredan,[1] and assigned the Deaconry of S.

[4] 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.

[6] 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.

[16] Nonetheless, Cardinal Francesco was a hostage for the good behavior of the Pope, being kept in Naples for eighteen months.

[17] 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.

[18] 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.

[19] In 1550 Cardinal Juan Alvarez de Toledo was promoted from the Deaconry of S. Maria in Porticu to the priestly titulus of S. Sisto.

Consequently, the Deaconry of S. Maria in Porticu was given back to Cardinal Pisani in commendam, and he held it until he was promoted to the Cardinal-Bishopric of Albano.

[9] Cardinal Pisani was nominated Administrator of the diocese of Narbonne by King Henri II of France, which was confirmed on 11 May 1551.

Bellay's seat at Porto was then filled by Cardinal Rodolfo Pio de Carpi, Bishop of Tusculum.

[24] Cardinal Francesco Pisani participated as Bishop of Tusculum (Frascati) in the Conclave of 1559, an event that lasted nearly four months.