In 1337 the patronage right to the village church was held by the knightly family of Hallwyl. In 1425, the rights to the church transferred to the Benedictine Muri Abbey. In 1525 to 1531, the Protestant Reformation entered the village, but much of the population stayed Catholic. On 24 January 1656 and again on 24 July 1712, the First War of Villmergen and the Toggenburg War (or Second War of Villmergen) were fought near the village. both battles were between the Reformed and Catholic Swiss cantons. The Protestants' victory in the Second Battle of Villmergen, brought an end to the Catholic hegemony in the Swiss Confederation and prevented further conflict until the renewed outbreak of civil war until 1847. That year, the Sonderbund war led to the formation of Switzerland as a federal state.