Short answers, pulled from the story.
Alexander Ales (born Alexander Alane, the 23rd of April 1500) was a Scottish theologian who converted from Catholic orthodoxy to Lutheranism after witnessing the 1528 burning of Patrick Hamilton at St Andrews. He became a key figure in the early Reformation, befriending Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon in Wittenberg, and was the first professor to teach Lutheran theology at the University of Frankfurt an der Oder.
Ales converted after witnessing the execution by burning of Patrick Hamilton, a Lutheran pastor and former abbot of Fern, in 1528. He had been chosen to debate Hamilton before the execution to convince him of his errors, but Hamilton's theological arguments and, above all, his courage at the stake persuaded Ales to embrace Lutheran theology immediately.
Ales briefly attended the court of Anne Boleyn and held her in high regard. He was present in London during her downfall, trial, and execution by beheading, and believed she was not guilty of adultery or the other charges for which she was put to death. Later, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Ales wrote a letter to the queen sharing his memories of her mother.
Ales fled Scotland in 1532 after being imprisoned by the synod provost for preaching against clerical misconduct; the Scottish Bishops subsequently sentenced him to death for heresy in absentia. He was forced to leave England a second time in 1539 following Thomas Cromwell's fall from royal favour and the passage of the statute of the Six Articles.
Ales produced more than twenty works listed by Bale among English writers, covering biblical commentary, doctrinal argument, and religious controversy. Notable works include his 1550 Expositio Libri Psalmorum Davidis, a 1544 debate with the Bishop of London on the nature of the sacraments, and two appeals for religious harmony addressed to Scotland, published in 1544 and 1559.
Thomas Cromwell was instrumental in Ales's time in England. He arranged Ales's appointment to lecture on theology at Queens' College, Cambridge, and in 1537 invited Ales to debate the Bishop of London on the sacraments at a clergy convocation. When Cromwell fell from Henry VIII's favour in 1539, Ales was compelled to flee England for a second time.