Den här avhandlingen handlar det underhåll till sårade och gamla soldater som den svenskastatsmakten organiserade under tidigmodern tid. Undersökningen tar sin utgångspunkt i den tid närstatsmakten började organisera mer omfattande hjälp för soldater, vilket var slutet på Gustav Vasasoch under Erik XIV:s regeringstid i mitten av 1500-talet. Motiven till att statsmakten organiseradehjälp för en del soldater var att dessa skulle ha offrat sin hälsa och arbetsförmåga i kronans tjänst, menså länge statsmakten fortsatte att vara relativt löst organiserad var även hjälpen till soldaterna avganska liten omfattning. Det ändrades under Gustav II Adolfs regering då planerna på att skapa ettkrigsmanshus i Vadstena etablerades, vilka senare genomfördes efter hans död och institutionen kundeta emot de första soldaterna senast 1640. I krigsmanshuset fick ett trettiotal soldater med familjeruppehälle, samtidigt som soldater boende i andra delar av landet fick stöd från krigsmanshuskassansom också administrerades från Vadstena. Mot slutet av 1600-talet blev kassan proportionellt merbetydelsefull än krigsmanshuset och runt år 1700 försörjde kassan flera tusen soldater runtom i riket.1700-talet innebar stora förändringar, bland annat genom att krigen blev färre, att krigaryrket intelängre var lika attraktivt som karriärväg för adelsmän och att statsmakten utvecklade andra mer civiladelar. Behovet av ett krigsmanshus fanns till sist inte längre och institutionen i Vadstena stängde förboende våren 1784, men kassan fanns kvar in på 1970-talet.

This dissertation focuses on the maintenance of wounded and old soldiers organized by the Swedishstate in the Early Modern Period. The thesis starts at the time when the government began to organizemore help for soldiers, which was the end of Gustav Vasa’s reign and during that of his son Erik XIVin the mid-16th century. The reasons why the government organized help for some soldiers weremainly that the soldiers would have sacrificed their health and ability to work in their service of theCrown. But as long as the government continued to be relatively loosely organized, the aid to thesoldiers remained on a relatively small scale. This changed under the reign of Gustav II Adolf (ruled1611–1632) when plans for the establishment of the Veteran's Home in Vadstena were established.These plans were later executed after his death and the institution was able to welcome the firstsoldiers by 1640. At the Veteran's Home, some 30 soldiers were kept with families while othersoldiers lived in their home parishes in other parts of the country and were supported by the Veteran’sFund, which was also administered in Vadstena. Towards the end of the 17th century, the fund becameproportionally more important than the Veteran’s Home and around 1700 the fund delivered support toseveral thousand soldiers. The 18th century meant major changes in society, including fewer wars, thatbecoming an officer was no longer as attractive as career path for the nobility, and that the governmentdeveloped other more civilian functions. The need for a Veteran’s Home was no longer the same underthose circumstances and the Veteran’s Home closed for residents in the spring of 1784, but the fundremained until the 1970s.