Background
Hatfield was born in Leighton, North Yorkshire, England in the 17th century.
Hatfield was born in Leighton, North Yorkshire, England in the 17th century.
Her parents were Faith Westley and Anthony Hatfield. In April 1652, Hatfield became ill with a type of catalepsy. She became paralyzed, blind, deaf and mute.
This lasted for seventeen days.
When she recovered she began "rambling" about religious subjects and started quoting scriptures. What she said was documented by John and Peter, the songs of Edward Rodes, and another man named John Cromwell.
On 8 September 1652 she became mute again. She remained mute until 7 December 1652.
However, her second recovery did not have any prophetic moments.
The book was a best seller and was reprinted multiple times.