Stans is one of the oldest settlements in the entire Nidwalden valley. The first traces of human settlement date to the 2nd Century BC. During the Roman era there is little evidence of a settlement except for some gallo-roman Ustrinum or funeral pyres and the Latin root (stagnum meaning a pool or sump) of the name Stans.
During the 7th or 8th Century the Alamanni settled in the region. The christianAlamanni built the first church in Stans around 750 AD. This pre-Carolingian church served as the parish church for the entire Engelberg Valley. The church was expanded numerous times until it was finally replaced in 1647 by the new church of St. Peter and Paul.
Stans was first mentioned in 1124. By 1291, when Unterwalden joined Uri andSchwyz in what became the Swiss Confederation, Stans was already the capital of the section known as Unterwalden nid dem Kernwald which would become the half canton of Nidwalden.
In 1386, during the Battle of Sempach, a soldier from Stans, Arnold von Winkelried, is claimed to have thrown himself on the pikes of the Habsburg army which led the Swiss to victory. However it is doubtful whether he existed or died in the battle as the first mention of his selfless act appears over 150 years after the battle and a man who may have been Arnold was party to a lawsuit in 1389. Regardless, the legend is firmly in place in Stans, with a monument and his house located in the town.
Following the Swiss victories in the Burgundian Wars the Old Swiss Confederation was nearly torn apart by internal conflict when the city cantons insisted on having the lion's share of the proceeds since they had supplied the most troops. The country cantons resented this and the Tagsatzung or leadership of each of the cantons met in Stans in 1481 to resolve the issues. However, they were unable to resolve the issues and war seemed inevitable. A local hermit, Niklaus von der Fl�e, was consulted on the situation. He requested that a message be
