Apart from the territories which were really Calvinistic (Anhalt, Lower
Hesse, the Palatinate, etc.), comparatively few of the German princes
and estates considered adherents of the _Augsburg Confession_ declined
to accept the _Formula of Concord_ because of any doctrinal
disagreement. Some refused to append their names for political reasons;
others, because they were opposed on principle to a new symbol. With
still others, notably some of the imperial cities, it was a case of
religious particularism, which would not brook any disturbance of its
own mode of church-life. Also injured pride, for not having been
consulted in the matter, nor called upon to participate in the
preparation and revision of the _Formula_, was not altogether lacking as
a motive for withholding one's signature. In some instances personal
spite figured as a reason. Because Andreae had given offense to Paul von
Eitzen, Holstein rejected the _Formula_, stating that all the articles
it treated were clearly set forth in the existing symbols. Duke Julius
of Brunswick, though at first most zealous in promoting the work of
pacification and the adoption of the _Book of Concord_, withdrew in
1583, because Chemnitz had rebuked him for allowing his son to be
consecrated Bishop of Halberstadt. (Kolde, 73f.) However, despite the
unfriendly attitude of Duke Julius, some of the Brunswick theologians
openly declared their agreement with the _Formula_ as well as their
determination by the help of God, to adhere to its doctrine. No doubt
but that much more pressure was exercised in hindering than in urging
Lutherans to subscribe to the _Formula_. For the reasons enumerated the
_Formula of Concord_ was not adopted in Brunswick, Wolfenbuettel,
Holstein, Hesse, Pomerania (where however, the _Formula_ was received
later), Anhalt, the Palatinate (which, after a short Lutheran
interregnum, readopted the Heidelberg Catechism under John Casimir,
1583), Zweibruecken, Nassau, Bentheim, Tecklenburg, Solms, Ortenburg,
Liegnitz, Brieg, Wohlau, Bremen, Danzig, Magdeburg, Nuernberg,
Weissenburg, Windsheim, Frankfort-on-the-Main, Worms, Speyer,
Strassburg.
In Sweden and Denmark, Frederick II issued an edict, July 24, 1580,
forbidding (for political reasons) the importation and publication of
the _Formula of Concord_ on penalty of execution and confiscation of
property. He is said to have cast the two elegantly bound copies of the
_Formula_ sent him by his sister, the wife of Elector August of Saxony,
into the fireplace. Later on, however, the _Formula_ came to be esteemed
also in the Danish Church and to be regarded as a symbol, at least in
fact, if not in form.
While some of the original signatories subsequently withdrew from the
_Formula of Concord_ a larger number acceded to it. Among the latter
were Holstein, Pomerania, Krain, Kaernthen, Steiermark, etc. In Sweden
the _Formula_ was adopted 1593 by the Council of Upsala; in Hungary, in
1597. With few exceptions the Lutheran synods in America and Australia
all subscribed also to the _Formula of Concord_.