Alexander Ales
Alexander Ales was born in Edinburgh on the 23rd of April 1500, and he spent the first decades of his life as a dedicated enemy of everything he would later die defending. Trained at the newly founded college of St Leonard's in St Andrews, he graduated in 1515 and rose to become a priest at the university church, preaching hard against Protestant ideas. Then a single event changed his entire course. What turns a sworn opponent of Lutheranism into one of its most prolific champions? And how does a Scottish theologian end up lecturing in Frankfurt, corresponding with kings, and standing in London on the morning of a queen's execution?
Patrick Hamilton was a Lutheran pastor and former abbot of Fern, and in 1528 he was burned for his beliefs at St Andrews. Ales had been sent to argue Hamilton out of his errors, to debate him before the execution and demonstrate the theological failings of Lutheranism. The arguments he heard were persuasive, but it was something else that struck him most: the calm fortitude Hamilton showed at the stake. Ales later said it was precisely that courage, more than any doctrinal point, that convinced him on the spot. Within the same year he preached before the Synod at St Andrews, not against Protestantism but against the moral failings of the clergy themselves. The provost of the synod found this deeply offensive and had Ales imprisoned. He escaped and made his way out of Scotland in 1532, leaving behind a church that would sentence him to death for heresy in his absence.
After travelling through northern Europe, Ales settled in Wittenberg, where he built friendships with Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon and formally signed the Augsburg Confession. From that base he began writing directly into Scottish church affairs. In 1533 the Scottish Bishops issued a decree prohibiting laypeople from reading the New Testament. Ales answered with an open letter addressed to King James V of Scotland, defending the right of ordinary people to read scripture. Johann Cochlaeus, a German Roman Catholic priest and Renaissance humanist, wrote a reply also addressed to the Scottish king. Ales then produced a second letter, this time ranging more widely into theological argument. In August 1534 he was excommunicated at Holyrood by a deputy of the Archbishop of St Andrews, formally severing his ties to the Scottish church hierarchy while he sat safely abroad.
When Henry VIII declared himself Supreme Head of the Church of England, Ales was persuaded to cross to England, and in August 1535 he was received at court by the king and two of his most prominent Protestant allies, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer and Thomas Cromwell. He spent time briefly at the court of Henry's queen, Anne Boleyn, and formed a high opinion of her. He was still in London when her downfall came: the trial, the charges, and finally the execution by beheading. Ales believed she was innocent of adultery and of the other crimes for which she was put to death. Decades later, during the reign of Anne Boleyn's daughter Queen Elizabeth I, Ales wrote directly to the new queen to share what he remembered of her mother. Through Cromwell's influence, Ales was appointed to lecture on theology at Queens' College, Cambridge, but after delivering several expositions on the Hebrew Psalms, the anti-Protestant faction at Cambridge stopped him from continuing.
Back in London, Ales supported himself for a time by practicing as a physician. In 1537 he attended a clergy convocation and debated John Stokesley, Bishop of London, on the nature of the sacraments, at Cromwell's request. That debate eventually appeared in print in 1544 under a title running to several lines of early modern English, identifying Ales by name and addressed to the Duke of Saxony. Two years earlier, in 1539, Ales had been forced out of England a second time. The immediate causes were the fall of Thomas Cromwell from royal favour and the passage of the statute of the Six Articles, which pulled England back toward Catholic doctrine. He crossed back to Germany, where he was appointed to the theology chair at the University of Frankfurt an der Oder, becoming the first professor there to teach Lutheran theology.
Ales returned briefly to England during the reign of Edward VI and was commissioned by Cranmer to translate the First Prayer-Book of 1549 into Latin, so that the reformer Martin Bucer could read it and give his opinion. Ales then returned to Leipzig, where he spent the rest of his life and was twice elected Rector of the University. His published output was large: over twenty of his works appear in a list compiled by Bale among English writers. His writings covered biblical commentary, doctrinal argument, and polemical controversy, including works on the translation of the Bible into vernacular languages and a text directed against Servetus. His Expositio Libri Psalmorum Davidis appeared in 1550. In his controversial writings he upheld the synergistic views of the Scottish theologian John Major. He also published two calls for religious harmony addressed to Scotland, one in 1544 that carried the express approval of Luther, and a second in 1559, his interest in his homeland never fully extinguished.
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Common questions
Who was Alexander Ales and why is he historically significant?
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.
What caused Alexander Ales to convert to Lutheranism?
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.
What was Alexander Ales's connection to Anne Boleyn?
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.
Why did Alexander Ales leave Scotland and later England?
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.
What did Alexander Ales write, and when were his works published?
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.
What role did Thomas Cromwell play in Alexander Ales's career in England?
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.