Andrea Pisani was born in Venice in 1662, to a noble family belonging to the Venetian patriciate. He was the son of Gianfrancesco Pisani and Paolina Contarini.[a]
During his youth, he was banished from Venice[1] on the orders of the Council of Ten (25 August 1682), for having perpetrated indecent acts against the Sisters of Sant Catherine the Virgin Martyr [it] in Brescia.[2] In order to redeem himself, he enlisted as a volunteer in the Imperial army operating in Hungary during the Siege of Buda.[2] In the next year, he returned to Venice, enlisting in the Venetian navy under the captain (Governator di Nave) Pietro Zaguri.[2]
In 1717, he distinguished himself in the battle off Passavas, along with his brother Carlo [it]: aboard a small felucca, Pisani passed through the enemy ships in full action, reorganized his own ships of the line, and encouraged his troops.[4] Once back in Santa Maura, he busied himself with its re-fortification, alongside Count Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg.[5] He then recovered Preveza and Vonitsa, for which he was awarded by the Senate the Knighthood of the Order of the Golden Stola [it].[3]
In 1718, he was besieging Dulcigno when news arrived of the Treaty of Passarowitz. He lifted the siege and returned with the fleet to Corfu.[3] On 21 September 1718 he was killed in an explosion caused when a thunderbolt struck a gunpowder magazine.[3] His body was transported to Venice, where his funeral took place; he was buried in the island of La Certosa.[3]
Footnotes
^The couple had five other sons, Carlo (1655-1740), Ermolao, the future Doge Alvise, Lorenzo, and Marcantonio
References
^Bandi et sentenze dell'eccelso Conseglio di dieci contra Tommaso e Paolo fratelli Caprioli q. conte Costanzo di Brescia, ed altri fra' quali ser Andrea Pisani de ser Z. Francesco, Stampate per Gio. Pietro Pinelli stampator ducale.
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