diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index db11de0e85b60f2d2ee5e14bc78dfaf1da14d00e..2d360194a124553a73858380cc7dceb8d4a6808e 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -1,3 +1,85 @@
+Synapse 1.26.0rc1 (2021-01-20)
+==============================
+
+Features
+--------
+
+- Remove a user's avatar URL and display name when deactivated with the Admin API. ([\#8932](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/8932))
+- Update `/_synapse/admin/v1/users/<user_id>/joined_rooms` to work for both local and remote users. ([\#8948](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/8948))
+- Implement [MSC2176](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/2176) in an experimental room version. ([\#8984](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/8984))
+- Add support for multiple SSO Identity Providers. ([\#9015](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9015), [\#9017](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9017), [\#9036](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9036), [\#9067](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9067), [\#9081](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9081), [\#9082](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9082), [\#9105](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9105), [\#9107](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9107), [\#9109](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9109), [\#9110](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9110), [\#9127](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9127), [\#9153](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9153))
+- Improved performance when calculating ignored users in large rooms. ([\#9024](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9024))
+- Add experimental support for handling and persistence of to-device messages to happen on worker processes. ([\#9042](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9042), [\#9043](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9043), [\#9044](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9044), [\#9130](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9130))
+- Add experimental support for handling `/keys/claim` and `/room_keys` APIs on worker processes. ([\#9068](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9068))
+- Add an admin API for protecting local media from quarantine. ([\#9086](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9086))
+- During user-interactive authentication via single-sign-on, give a better error if the user uses the wrong account on the SSO IdP. ([\#9091](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9091))
+- Add experimental support for handling `/devices` API on worker processes. ([\#9092](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9092))
+- Add experimental support for moving off receipts and account data persistence off master. ([\#9104](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9104), [\#9166](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9166))
+
+
+Bugfixes
+--------
+
+- Fix a longstanding issue where an internal server error would occur when requesting a profile over federation that did not include a display name / avatar URL. ([\#9023](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9023))
+- Fix a long-standing bug where some caches could grow larger than configured. ([\#9028](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9028))
+- Fix error handling during insertion of client IPs into the database. ([\#9051](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9051))
+- Fix bug where we didn't correctly record CPU time spent in 'on_new_event' block. ([\#9053](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9053))
+- Fix a minor bug which could cause confusing error messages from invalid configurations. ([\#9054](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9054))
+- Fix incorrect exit code when there is an error at startup. ([\#9059](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9059))
+- Fix `JSONDecodeError` spamming the logs when sending transactions to remote servers. ([\#9070](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9070))
+- Fix "Failed to send request" errors when a client provides an invalid room alias. ([\#9071](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9071))
+- Fix "Unhandled error in Deferred: BodyExceededMaxSize" errors when .well-known files that are too large. ([\#9108](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9108))
+- Fix bugs in federation catchup logic that caused outbound federation to be delayed for large servers after start up. Introduced in v1.8.0 and v1.21.0. ([\#9114](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9114), [\#9116](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9116))
+- Fix corruption of `pushers` data when a postgres bouncer is used. ([\#9117](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9117))
+- Fix minor bugs in handling the `clientRedirectUrl` parameter for SSO login. ([\#9128](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9128))
+- Fix "UnboundLocalError: local variable 'length' referenced before assignment" errors when the response body exceeds the expected size. This bug was introduced in v1.25.0. ([\#9145](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9145))
+- Fix a long-standing bug "ValueError: invalid literal for int() with base 10" when `/publicRooms` is requested with an invalid `server` parameter. ([\#9161](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9161))
+
+
+Improved Documentation
+----------------------
+
+- Add some extra docs for getting Synapse running on macOS. ([\#8997](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/8997))
+- Corrected a typo in the `systemd-with-workers` documentation. ([\#9035](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9035))
+- Corrected a typo in `INSTALL.md`. ([\#9040](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9040))
+- Add missing user_mapping_provider configuration to the Keycloak OIDC example. Contributed by @chris-ruecker. ([\#9057](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9057))
+- Quote `pip install` packages when extras are used to avoid shells interpreting bracket characters. ([\#9151](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9151))
+
+
+Deprecations and Removals
+-------------------------
+
+- Remove broken and unmaintained `demo/webserver.py` script. ([\#9039](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9039))
+
+
+Internal Changes
+----------------
+
+- Improve efficiency of large state resolutions. ([\#8868](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/8868), [\#9029](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9029), [\#9115](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9115), [\#9118](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9118), [\#9124](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9124))
+- Various clean-ups to the structured logging and logging context code. ([\#8939](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/8939))
+- Ensure rejected events get added to some metadata tables. ([\#9016](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9016))
+- Ignore date-rotated homeserver logs saved to disk. ([\#9018](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9018))
+- Removed an unused column from `access_tokens` table. ([\#9025](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9025))
+- Add a `-noextras` factor to `tox.ini`, to support running the tests with no optional dependencies. ([\#9030](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9030))
+- Fix running unit tests when optional dependencies are not installed. ([\#9031](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9031))
+- Allow bumping schema version when using split out state database. ([\#9033](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9033))
+- Configure the linters to run on a consistent set of files. ([\#9038](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9038))
+- Various cleanups to device inbox store. ([\#9041](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9041))
+- Drop unused database tables. ([\#9055](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9055))
+- Remove unused `SynapseService` class. ([\#9058](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9058))
+- Removes unnecessary declarations in the tests for the admin API. ([\#9063](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9063))
+- Remove `SynapseRequest.get_user_agent`. ([\#9069](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9069))
+- Remove redundant `Homeserver.get_ip_from_request` method. ([\#9080](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9080))
+- Add type hints to media repository. ([\#9093](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9093))
+- Fix the wrong arguments being passed to `BlacklistingAgentWrapper` from `MatrixFederationAgent`. Contributed by Timothy Leung. ([\#9098](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9098))
+- Reduce the scope of caught exceptions in `BlacklistingAgentWrapper`. ([\#9106](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9106))
+- Improve `UsernamePickerTestCase`. ([\#9112](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9112))
+- Remove dependency on `distutils`. ([\#9125](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9125))
+- Enforce that replication HTTP clients are called with keyword arguments only. ([\#9144](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9144))
+- Fix the Python 3.5 + old dependencies build in CI. ([\#9146](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9146))
+- Replace the old `perspectives` option in the Synapse docker config file template with `trusted_key_servers`. ([\#9157](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9157))
+
+
 Synapse 1.25.0 (2021-01-13)
 ===========================
 
diff --git a/changelog.d/8868.misc b/changelog.d/8868.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 346741d982f4f443bc8dee0c3acde24203e66dff..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/8868.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Improve efficiency of large state resolutions.
diff --git a/changelog.d/8932.feature b/changelog.d/8932.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index a1d17394d7d0b9986d9f8ad2ecf5439b689f7f4c..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/8932.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Remove a user's avatar URL and display name when deactivated with the Admin API.
diff --git a/changelog.d/8939.misc b/changelog.d/8939.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index bf94135fd5b4fa29e895caabedb5d9df8d9cb13a..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/8939.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Various clean-ups to the structured logging and logging context code.
diff --git a/changelog.d/8948.feature b/changelog.d/8948.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 3b06cbfa222a4c2ebc5d92f802caab61ca94e702..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/8948.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Update `/_synapse/admin/v1/users/<user_id>/joined_rooms` to work for both local and remote users.
diff --git a/changelog.d/8984.feature b/changelog.d/8984.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 4db629746e7de89ed71767cc109daf4f0ccbc212..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/8984.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Implement [MSC2176](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/2176) in an experimental room version.
diff --git a/changelog.d/8997.doc b/changelog.d/8997.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index dd1a88230160bab5219b1a87cd45d6a22f4e2a04..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/8997.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add some extra docs for getting Synapse running on macOS.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9015.feature b/changelog.d/9015.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 01a24dcf4900f55056cc05632c2ce7101b895095..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9015.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add support for multiple SSO Identity Providers.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9016.misc b/changelog.d/9016.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 0d455b17dba77e3898e76c2682f4d295ac7cd2f6..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9016.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Ensure rejected events get added to some metadata tables.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9017.feature b/changelog.d/9017.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 01a24dcf4900f55056cc05632c2ce7101b895095..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9017.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add support for multiple SSO Identity Providers.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9018.misc b/changelog.d/9018.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index bb31eb4a46154bb82689fb35103e9136a58adb20..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9018.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Ignore date-rotated homeserver logs saved to disk.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9023.bugfix b/changelog.d/9023.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index deae64d9336e778b82861769fa7a39df9fa9d41b..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9023.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a longstanding issue where an internal server error would occur when requesting a profile over federation that did not include a display name / avatar URL.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9024.feature b/changelog.d/9024.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 073dafbf834e981aec50a8115d6140457624212e..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9024.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Improved performance when calculating ignored users in large rooms.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9025.misc b/changelog.d/9025.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 658f50d8534a08105c30033b11b6473705311c72..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9025.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Removed an unused column from `access_tokens` table.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9028.bugfix b/changelog.d/9028.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 66666886a469f99fee1face5bb75799cd07564a9..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9028.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a long-standing bug where some caches could grow larger than configured.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9029.misc b/changelog.d/9029.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 346741d982f4f443bc8dee0c3acde24203e66dff..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9029.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Improve efficiency of large state resolutions.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9030.misc b/changelog.d/9030.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 267cfbf9f9d49acfd31a76da969009d65a0acd7f..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9030.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add a `-noextras` factor to `tox.ini`, to support running the tests with no optional dependencies.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9031.misc b/changelog.d/9031.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index f43611c38598aadf395c5d65af995fb58508fb78..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9031.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix running unit tests when optional dependencies are not installed.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9033.misc b/changelog.d/9033.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index e9a305c0e8eacc71bea8be7d13faa1a35bd12570..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9033.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Allow bumping schema version when using split out state database.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9035.doc b/changelog.d/9035.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index 2a7f0db51800fe2f85e28a43d983e289dff8a138..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9035.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Corrected a typo in the `systemd-with-workers` documentation.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9036.feature b/changelog.d/9036.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 01a24dcf4900f55056cc05632c2ce7101b895095..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9036.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add support for multiple SSO Identity Providers.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9038.misc b/changelog.d/9038.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 5b9e21a1dbbbed61b3069b9b9286f9814b777bde..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9038.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Configure the linters to run on a consistent set of files.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9039.removal b/changelog.d/9039.removal
deleted file mode 100644
index fb99283ed81fc3e9f438c9a00b33479e783744e8..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9039.removal
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Remove broken and unmaintained `demo/webserver.py` script.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9040.doc b/changelog.d/9040.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index 5c1f7be781f8327353116f40dce1e8cb9e1cbb23..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9040.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Corrected a typo in `INSTALL.md`.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9041.misc b/changelog.d/9041.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 4952fbe8a2aecc3c6eedef6c954f46f15ac7d5d0..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9041.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Various cleanups to device inbox store.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9042.feature b/changelog.d/9042.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 4ec319f1f291fc483c93e23295c2b4620ed9b7a4..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9042.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add experimental support for handling and persistence of to-device messages to happen on worker processes.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9043.feature b/changelog.d/9043.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 4ec319f1f291fc483c93e23295c2b4620ed9b7a4..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9043.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add experimental support for handling and persistence of to-device messages to happen on worker processes.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9044.feature b/changelog.d/9044.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 4ec319f1f291fc483c93e23295c2b4620ed9b7a4..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9044.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add experimental support for handling and persistence of to-device messages to happen on worker processes.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9051.bugfix b/changelog.d/9051.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 272be9d7a35f0782bcf89790f095ba385cef5090..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9051.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix error handling during insertion of client IPs into the database.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9053.bugfix b/changelog.d/9053.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 3d8bbf11a1f45d9da83251d796b929d938c49f82..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9053.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix bug where we didn't correctly record CPU time spent in 'on_new_event' block.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9054.bugfix b/changelog.d/9054.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 0bfe951f173f30f0fcd6eabbb7cd63240c0275b0..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9054.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a minor bug which could cause confusing error messages from invalid configurations.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9055.misc b/changelog.d/9055.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 8e0512eb1e1405cb6a034e89382a9097e8bb1dac..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9055.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Drop unused database tables.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9057.doc b/changelog.d/9057.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index d16686e7dcdbbbcacc843f597b4eb5730b753af1..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9057.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add missing user_mapping_provider configuration to the Keycloak OIDC example. Contributed by @chris-ruecker.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9058.misc b/changelog.d/9058.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 9df6796e22bd066f2f883093c3847ab6be84d1d5..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9058.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Remove unused `SynapseService` class.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9059.bugfix b/changelog.d/9059.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 2933703ffaba0b5b2b2968eaf1b6663cd50ff78e..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9059.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix incorrect exit code when there is an error at startup.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9063.misc b/changelog.d/9063.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 22eed43147bfdcb1d1f50f08a2d792e5b0e11aa4..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9063.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Removes unnecessary declarations in the tests for the admin API.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/9067.feature b/changelog.d/9067.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 01a24dcf4900f55056cc05632c2ce7101b895095..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9067.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add support for multiple SSO Identity Providers.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9068.feature b/changelog.d/9068.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index cdf1844fa7cdb4773432dc86c885c8e6261a0542..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9068.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add experimental support for handling `/keys/claim` and `/room_keys` APIs on worker processes.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9069.misc b/changelog.d/9069.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 5e9e62d252b057f5c7438cf5787928f7e29e4a3b..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9069.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Remove `SynapseRequest.get_user_agent`.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9070.bugfix b/changelog.d/9070.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 72b8fe9f1ce96b99651a578ac30c19f3991cb307..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9070.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix `JSONDecodeError` spamming the logs when sending transactions to remote servers.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9071.bugfix b/changelog.d/9071.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 0201271f84f64e72492193027f52d6cccc67ae79..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9071.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix "Failed to send request" errors when a client provides an invalid room alias.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9080.misc b/changelog.d/9080.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 3da8171f5fef2e18ecb95d769979fd41136845f5..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9080.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Remove redundant `Homeserver.get_ip_from_request` method.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9081.feature b/changelog.d/9081.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 01a24dcf4900f55056cc05632c2ce7101b895095..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9081.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add support for multiple SSO Identity Providers.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9082.feature b/changelog.d/9082.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 01a24dcf4900f55056cc05632c2ce7101b895095..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9082.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add support for multiple SSO Identity Providers.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9086.feature b/changelog.d/9086.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 3e678e24d5c2c096fd7fe630615a6abec96fa764..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9086.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add an admin API for protecting local media from quarantine.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9091.feature b/changelog.d/9091.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 79fcd701f88556d457df029ca65000b34a9dac74..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9091.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-During user-interactive authentication via single-sign-on, give a better error if the user uses the wrong account on the SSO IdP.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9092.feature b/changelog.d/9092.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 64843a6a959af3cad031977cf2fe90011528d39f..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9092.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
- Add experimental support for handling `/devices` API on worker processes.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9093.misc b/changelog.d/9093.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 53eb8f72a865f0f90c009ac2df2be3fc518051db..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9093.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add type hints to media repository.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9098.misc b/changelog.d/9098.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 907020d4280513f4af0ef8a8abdcf0494e371f1c..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9098.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix the wrong arguments being passed to `BlacklistingAgentWrapper` from `MatrixFederationAgent`. Contributed by Timothy Leung.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9104.feature b/changelog.d/9104.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 1c4f88bce9e96dcba52695fb71c168d66fa40214..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9104.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add experimental support for moving off receipts and account data persistence off master.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9105.feature b/changelog.d/9105.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 01a24dcf4900f55056cc05632c2ce7101b895095..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9105.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add support for multiple SSO Identity Providers.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9106.misc b/changelog.d/9106.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 4cd26057542846b6d6376218d88f080ba4c3bd29..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9106.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Reduce the scope of caught exceptions in `BlacklistingAgentWrapper`.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9107.feature b/changelog.d/9107.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 01a24dcf4900f55056cc05632c2ce7101b895095..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9107.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add support for multiple SSO Identity Providers.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9108.bugfix b/changelog.d/9108.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 465ef63508f524eb6124574cd11f08e873ea5860..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9108.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix "Unhandled error in Deferred: BodyExceededMaxSize" errors when .well-known files that are too large.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9109.feature b/changelog.d/9109.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 01a24dcf4900f55056cc05632c2ce7101b895095..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9109.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add support for multiple SSO Identity Providers.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9110.feature b/changelog.d/9110.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 01a24dcf4900f55056cc05632c2ce7101b895095..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9110.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add support for multiple SSO Identity Providers.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9112.misc b/changelog.d/9112.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 691f9d8b43401c6bd69608bd4bbd3c1f5655418c..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9112.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Improve `UsernamePickerTestCase`.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9114.bugfix b/changelog.d/9114.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 211f26589de69210579241e5ca468dfd46fe4414..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9114.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix bugs in federation catchup logic that caused outbound federation to be delayed for large servers after start up. Introduced in v1.8.0 and v1.21.0.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9115.misc b/changelog.d/9115.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 346741d982f4f443bc8dee0c3acde24203e66dff..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9115.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Improve efficiency of large state resolutions.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9116.bugfix b/changelog.d/9116.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 211f26589de69210579241e5ca468dfd46fe4414..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9116.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix bugs in federation catchup logic that caused outbound federation to be delayed for large servers after start up. Introduced in v1.8.0 and v1.21.0.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9117.bugfix b/changelog.d/9117.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 233a76d18b301e160070a9b3ba3f66da055bb2ad..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9117.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix corruption of `pushers` data when a postgres bouncer is used.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9118.misc b/changelog.d/9118.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 346741d982f4f443bc8dee0c3acde24203e66dff..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9118.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Improve efficiency of large state resolutions.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9124.misc b/changelog.d/9124.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 346741d982f4f443bc8dee0c3acde24203e66dff..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9124.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Improve efficiency of large state resolutions.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9125.misc b/changelog.d/9125.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 08459caf5af5d9f70f75cca16a9cd86f1ab6ceb7..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9125.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Remove dependency on `distutils`.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9127.feature b/changelog.d/9127.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 01a24dcf4900f55056cc05632c2ce7101b895095..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9127.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add support for multiple SSO Identity Providers.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9128.bugfix b/changelog.d/9128.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index f87b9fb9aaff7f37c37942b02bfa89f3c83bfa51..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9128.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix minor bugs in handling the `clientRedirectUrl` parameter for SSO login.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9130.feature b/changelog.d/9130.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 4ec319f1f291fc483c93e23295c2b4620ed9b7a4..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9130.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add experimental support for handling and persistence of to-device messages to happen on worker processes.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9144.misc b/changelog.d/9144.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 38a506b170ed6ff349a60766d3b88b173ab1b43a..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9144.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Enforce that replication HTTP clients are called with keyword arguments only.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9145.bugfix b/changelog.d/9145.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 947cf1dc25de1c9202fa8526ad1a33025a0147f7..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9145.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix "UnboundLocalError: local variable 'length' referenced before assignment" errors when the response body exceeds the expected size. This bug was introduced in v1.25.0.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9146.misc b/changelog.d/9146.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 7af29baa30e80718392ebd8aebae96d43177582e..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9146.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix the Python 3.5 + old dependencies build in CI.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9151.doc b/changelog.d/9151.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index 753574806026daf1f1401f43a503095506af9437..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9151.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Quote `pip install` packages when extras are used to avoid shells interpreting bracket characters.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9153.feature b/changelog.d/9153.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 01a24dcf4900f55056cc05632c2ce7101b895095..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9153.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add support for multiple SSO Identity Providers.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9157.misc b/changelog.d/9157.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 76b2a66a055993659359f44bb8567d23455879ac..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9157.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Replace the old `perspectives` option in the Synapse docker config file template with `trusted_key_servers`.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/9161.bugfix b/changelog.d/9161.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 6798126b7c93e63c545d66c852a293c0da474a37..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9161.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a long-standing bug "ValueError: invalid literal for int() with base 10" when `/publicRooms` is requested with an invalid `server` parameter.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9166.feature b/changelog.d/9166.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 1c4f88bce9e96dcba52695fb71c168d66fa40214..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9166.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add experimental support for moving off receipts and account data persistence off master.
diff --git a/synapse/__init__.py b/synapse/__init__.py
index 193adca6243b20c952c5473109f10449803e56da..d423856d8285b73058df51ae945397c38782d0cf 100644
--- a/synapse/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/__init__.py
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ try:
 except ImportError:
     pass
 
-__version__ = "1.25.0"
+__version__ = "1.26.0rc1"
 
 if bool(os.environ.get("SYNAPSE_TEST_PATCH_LOG_CONTEXTS", False)):
     # We import here so that we don't have to install a bunch of deps when