According to historians such as Hans E. Mayer and Peter W. Edbury, the letters were written in 1261 or 1262, and were intended for the Cypriote queen Plaisance of Antioch (1235–1261) and her lover John of Jaffa (1215–1266), who left his wife Marie of Armenia to pursue the relationship.
[2] Other historians such as David Nicolle, Steven Runciman and Christopher Tyerman[3] believe that the date is more likely 1268, that the noblewoman was another Cypriot queen, Isabella of Ibelin (1252–1282), and it was her affair with Julian of Sidon (born c. 1230, d. 1275) that prompted the papal letters.
[4] Audi filia et admonishes a dowager queen of Cyprus, telling her to give up her unchaste life because of the scandal it is causing among her subjects.
Queen Plaisance, who was widowed from King Henry I in 1253, married Balian of Arsuf and divorced him in 1258, and then had an affair with John of Jaffa.
The other letter, De sinu patris, was addressed Nobili viro J. comiti to a count who had rejected his wife (a sister of the king of Armenia), and was engaged in an inappropriate relationship with an unnamed noblewoman.