A Milanese, he studied law in Pavia and then spent his life as a wealthy landowner and meticulous scholar, often called upon to act as peacemaker in the quarrelsome circles of nobles. Authoritative and esteemed by his contemporaries, his expertise—often invoked in practical life—was aimed at resolving conflicts peacefully through mutual and bloodless satisfaction. Contemporaries respected the breadth of factual and literary documentation with which Birago supported his theses, contrasting the new, somewhat more conciliatory chivalry with the rigid and conservative Olevano. He was one of Manzoni's sources for The Betrothed , adopting his perspective and sometimes harshly criticizing it.