Martha Hatfield

Martha Hatfield
Nationality	English
Years active	1652
Known for	Religious prophet

Martha Hatfield (also known as The Wise Virgin) (fl. 1652) was an English Puritan prophet.

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.

In 1653, her uncle, James Fisher, who founded the first Presbyterian church in Sheffield, England, wrote a book about Hatfield and her prophetic dialogue called The Wise Virgin. The book was a best seller and was reprinted multiple times.

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