Emperor Hailing Wang of Jin, having introduced palace examinations in 1150, had set up the Imperial Academy (Guozijian) in 1115.

In his pursuit to become the "real Chinese", entitled to rule all over the Heavenly Kingdom, Hailing moves his court from the original Jurchen capital, Huining, to Yanjing (modern Beijing) in 1153.

Sultan Sanjar's rule over the Great Seljuq Empire, marked by conflict with the Kara-Khitai and Khwarazmians, ends in 1153 when the Turkish Ghuzz nomads from beyond the Amu Darya capture Sanjar in 1153 and pillage the city.

Subsequently Merv will change hands between the Khwarazmians of Khiva, the Ghuzz, and the Ghurids, and begin to lose importance relative to Khurasan's other major city, Nishapur.

The imperial capital, Constantinople, becomes the largest city of the world in about 1153, taking the lead from Merv in the Seljuq Empire.

Anna Komnene dies in 1153, leaving the “Alexiad,” a partial but valuable account of the reign of her father, the emperor Alexios I.

Within the Alexiad, she describes the political and military history of the Eastern Roman Empire during the reign of her father (1081-1118), making it one of the most important sources of information on the empire in the High Middle Ages.

As well as this, within the Alexiad, the First Crusade's interaction with the Eastern Roman Empire is documented (despite being written nearly fifty years after the crusade), which highlights the conflicting perceptions of the East and West in the early twelfth century.

The text is written in some form of artificial Attic Greek, and it is one of only a few examples of a woman writing about the political and military history of her own country, and it is also a valuable source as to ascertain the Imperial Greeks’ perception of the Crusaders.

Most likely, she can be considered the first woman historian of the western world.

Oghuz tribes from beyond the Oxus, who had been employed as mercenary forces during the reign of Ahmed Sanjar, the sultan of Great Seljuq from 1118 and ruler of most of Persia, rebel in 1153 and capture Sanjar; they will hold him prisoner until 1156.

The Republic of Genoa, confronted with important financial difficulty due to the expenses of its Spanish crusade, has to sell the city of Tortosa to the count of Barcelona, which had been conquered in 1148 during that same crusade.

The Norse Kingdom of Mann and the Isles, which has existed in the British Isles from 1079 until 1266, has two parts, Sodor, or the South Isles (the Hebrides and Mann), and Norðr, or the North Isles (Orkney and Shetland).

The Kings of Mann and the Isles are vassals of the Kings of Norway.

Orkney’s Kirkjuvåg bishopric is from 1153 subordinate to the archbishop of Nidaros (today's Trondheim).

Cubbie Roo's Castle, built around this time and mentioned in the Orkneyinga Saga, is one of the oldest castles in Scotland.

Frederick begins his struggle for the old goal of the predominance of the German Empire over the European monarchies with great political skill.

By not recognizing Conrad’s treaty of alliance with Manuel against Roger, and because the Pope is more exposed to pressure from the Norman kingdom to the south as well as from radical religious reformer Arnold of Brescia in Rome, Frederick forces Pope Eugenius III to sign with him the Treaty of Constance (March 23, 1153), negotiated by Frederick’s newly appointed papal chancellor, Orlando Bandinelli.

Frederick promises not to make peace with the Roman commune headed by Arnold or with the Normans without the agreement of the Pope.

He also promises not to concede any Italian land to Manuel and, finally, to maintain the position of the papacy (honor papatus).

Eugenius, on his part, promises that Frederick will receive the imperial crown and that the rights of the German empire will be maintained.

Manuel offers Frederick an imperial princess as wife and attempts to induce him to fight against the Norman kingdom, but Frederick refuses, quashing plans for the dual imperial alliance forming to invade Sicily.

David of Alba, king of the Scots, has created a rudimentary central administration, issued the first Scottish royal coinage, and built or rebuilt the castles around which are to grow the first Scottish burghs: Edinburgh, …

…Stirling, …

…Roxburgh, and …