From the year 1230 till the year 1594 a
Norbertine nunnery (Mons Sinaï) stood in the village, the name of which is currently used as the name of the village Christian primary school. The
1536 Battle of Heiligerlee was part of the
Guelders Wars. The Danish allies of Guelders were defeated by Habsburg forces. The
1568 Battle of Heiligerlee was the first battle that the
Dutch rebels won against the Spanish. The army led by
Louis and
Adolf of Nassau defeated the Spanish, but politically it was no success. Adolf even died during the fight. It was the first battle of importance fought in the
Eighty Years' War, and therefore often marked as its beginning. On the 300th anniversary of the battle in 1868 the then ruling king
William III of the Netherlands revealed a monument in commemoration of the battle. From 1908 to 1934, the
Heiligerlee railway stop on the
Harlingen-Nieuweschans railway was located in the village. ==Notable people==