HALES, ALES, or
ALESSE, ALEXANDER,
a celebrated theologian and divine of the confession of Augsburg, was
born in Edinburgh, 28th April, 1500, and was at first a
canon in the cathedral of St. Andrews. He early entered into the
controversy against Luther, and also had a dispute with Patrick
Hamilton, the martyr; whose constancy at the stake, however, induced
him to entertain doubts as to the Popish creed, and on the change in
his sentiments becoming known, he was obliged to fly into Germany,
where he became a Protestant. In 1535 he went to London, and was held
in high esteem by Henry the Eighth, Cranmer, Latimer, and other
Reformers. In 1540, he was appointed by the elector of Brandenburg,
professor of divinity at Frankfort. In 1542 he went to Leipsic, where
he held the same situation. He died in 1565. He wrote a number of
theological and controversial works, of which a list is subjoined. He
also wrote a description in Latin of Edinburgh in his time, which is
of great interest as giving a clear and accurate account of the
Scottish capital in the middle of the sixteenth century. Of the
Cowgate he says, “Infiniti viculi, qui omnes excelsis sunt ornati
aedibus, sicut et Via Vaccarum; in qual habitant patricii et
sensatores urbis, et in qua sunt principum regni palatia, ubi nihil
est humile aut rusticum, set omnia magnifica.” [Bourndless street,
which are all ornamented by lofty houses, such as the Cowgate, in
which reside the nobles and senators of the city, and in which are the
principal palaces of the kingdom, where nothing is humble or homely,
but all is magnificent.] What a contrast to this does the Cowgate
present in our day! It is now one of the meanest and dirtiest of all
the streets of the Scottish metropolis. Alesse’s description of
Edinburgh is illustrated by the oldest and most valuable map of the
ancient capital in existence, a facsimile of which is given in the
first volume of the Bannatyne Miscellany. The original map is
preserved in the British Museum.
His works
are:
De
Necessitate et Merito Bonorum Operum disputatio proposita, in celebri
Academia Lipsica, ad 29 Nov. 1560.
Commentaria
in Evangelium Joannis, et in utamque Epistolam ad Timotheum.
Expositio in
Psalmos Davidis.
De
Justificatione, contra Osiandrum.
De Sancta
Trinitate, cum Confutatione erroris Valentini. Considered the best of
his writings.
Responsio ad
Triginta et duos Articulos Theologorum Lovaniensium.
Epistola
contra Cecretum quoddam Episcoporum in Scotia, quod prohibet Legere
Novi Testamenti libros Lingua Vernacula. 1533.
The Book of
Common Prayer, in Latin. Lipsiae, 1551
