The event that led to the heated dispute and ultimate conflict between Henry VI and Gregory VII was when Gregory VII posted his The Dictates of the Pope outlining all the powers of the Pope. The one that really got underneath Henry VI skin was that 12 Dictate that said, the Pope had the authority to depose the emperor. Henry responds in his letter by saying that Gregory VII rose the his position unrighteously. In his letter, he calls Gregory a false monk. He asserts that Gregory VII rose to power by crushing the other archbishops around. He says he used his cunning to get money, money to win favors, and favors to use the sword. He says that Gregory has not been called by God to be Pope but that Gregory is an uspurer who wrongly took his position. In his letter Henry references Scriptures to assert his claim that kingship is of God and should be treated as such. He opens his address with reference from Romans 13:2 which says that the kings are put in place by God. Since God has called him to his position and Gregory was not called by God, but rather took his by force, that according to the Scriptures, he should step down from his position.

After receiving the letter from Henry VI, Gregory VII then excommunicates Henry VI. One of the ways he defends his decision is by using the Scriptures to say that whoever does not allow themselves to be bound by the teachings of the church, is separated from Christ. He tries to destroy the notion that the secular and the sacred should be separate. In both word and deed Gregory VII thought that as Pope he had the right to have authority in matters as they pertain to the church and the kingdom at large. He says that the king, should not even be called a king. At one point in his letter, he even assert that Henry VI is the Antichrist. However, as it pertains to the bishops who align themselves with the king, he excommunicates them as well. He justifies this by saying, since they are going against the Church of God, they are going against God Himself.