Alexander Ales (Alexander Alesius)
Alexander Ales (Alesius) - A Famous Scottish Divine
Alexander Ales (Alesius) (1500 - 1565) Scottish Protestant theologian. Alexander Alane, was born, in Edinburgh, on April 23, 1500. In 1815 he graduated from the University of St Andrews (college of St Leonard's)
In 1523 Patrick Hamilton had become a member of the University of St Andrews but following his Reformed beliefs he had been forced to flee to the continent (where he was able to meet Martin Luther). In the autumn of 1527 Hamilton returned to Scotland and, as canon of the collegiate church at St. Andrews, Alexander he was to defend his scholastic theology against the doctrines of the Reformers being preached by Hamilton (by invitation of Cardinal David Beaton). Alexander Ales had intended, through debate, reclaim him but Hamilton was arrested, tried, condemned as a heretic and burned at the stake. Faced with such a terrible death before him Hamilton had shown great strength and fortitude being able to retain his faith to the very end, his final words were "were "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit".
Hamilton's preaching and heroism at the stake had impressed Alexander greatly (and later proved incredibly influencial the wider population of Scotland). Alexander Ales, who had failed to convince Hamilton to reject his Lutherian doctrine, soon found himself in turmoil as his views became entirely changed. Not long after Hamilton's martyrdom Ales gave a sermon before the Synod at St Andrews in which he preached against the dissoluteness of the clergy. He was arrested and placed in jail but managed to escape in 1532. Like Hamilton before him Alexander Ales fled to the Continent and eventually settled at Wittenberg, Germany. He met Martin Luther and his close friend Philipp Melanchthon, a professor at the University of Wittenberg and signed the Augsburg Confession, the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church. While he was there, back in Scotland, he was tried and convicted of heresy without hearing. Following a failed attempt at defence, by writing to King James V of Scotland, he was, in 1534, excommunicated at Holyrood.
In1535, with letters of commendation from Luther to King Henry VIII, Alesius travelled to England. King Henry had recently split from the Church in Rome, Alesius was cordially received by the king and his advisers, Archbishop Cranmer and Thomas Cromwell and allowed to stay at Lambeth Palace. Thomas Cromwell was the chancellor of the University of Cambridge and he appointed Alexander Alesius to lecture there on theology. However, following much opposition from the papal party Alexander was unable to continue and returned to London where he was forced to support himself by practising in medicine.
In 1537, while in attendance of a convocation of the clergy, he was requested (by Cromwell) to discuss/debate the nature of the sacraments with John Stokesley, Bishop of London (later published as "Of Me Auctorile of the Word of God"). In 1539, approved by Convocation and enacted by Parliament, the Statute of the Six Articles formally titled "An Act Abolishing Diversity in Opinions" was passed which, essentially, set the doctrine of the English Church was extremely similar to the traditional Catholic doctrine. Once again Alexander Alesius found his beliefsin contradiction to the state and was forced to return to Germany. He was a professor of theology at Frankfurt-an-der-Oder and later, in 1543, at Leipzig where died on the 17th of March 1565.
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