diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index c8840e9c74..7629a7e8ce 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -1,3 +1,73 @@
+Synapse 1.9.0rc1 (2020-01-22)
+=============================
+
+Features
+--------
+
+- Allow admin to create or modify a user. Contributed by Awesome Technologies Innovationslabor GmbH. ([\#5742](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5742))
+- Add new quarantine media admin APIs to quarantine by media ID or by user who uploaded the media. ([\#6681](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6681), [\#6756](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6756))
+- Add org.matrix.e2e_cross_signing to unstable_features in /versions as per [MSC1756](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/1756). ([\#6712](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6712))
+- Add a new admin API to list and filter rooms on the server. ([\#6720](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6720))
+
+
+Bugfixes
+--------
+
+- Correctly proxy HTTP errors due to API calls to remote group servers. ([\#6654](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6654))
+- Fix media repo admin APIs when using a media worker. ([\#6664](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6664))
+- Fix "CRITICAL" errors being logged when a request is received for a uri containing non-ascii characters. ([\#6682](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6682))
+- Fix a bug where we would assign a numeric userid if somebody tried registering with an empty username. ([\#6690](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6690))
+- Fix `purge_room` admin API. ([\#6711](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6711))
+- Fix a bug causing Synapse to not always purge quiet rooms with a low `max_lifetime` in their message retention policies when running the automated purge jobs. ([\#6714](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6714))
+- Fix a bug causing the `synapse_port_db` script to return 0 in a specific error case. ([\#6718](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6718))
+- Fix changing password via user admin API. ([\#6730](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6730))
+- Fix `/events/:event_id` deprecated API. ([\#6731](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6731))
+- Fix monthly active user limiting support for worker mode, fixes [#4639](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/4639). ([\#6742](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6742))
+- Fix bug when setting `account_validity` to an empty block in the config. Thanks to @Sorunome for reporting. ([\#6747](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6747))
+- Fix `AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'get'` in `hash_password` when configuration has an empty `password_config`. Contributed by @ivilata. ([\#6753](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6753))
+
+
+Improved Documentation
+----------------------
+
+- Fix a typo in the configuration example for purge jobs in the sample configuration file. ([\#6621](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6621))
+- Add complete documentation of the message retention policies support. ([\#6624](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6624), [\#6665](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6665))
+- No more overriding the entire /etc folder of the container in docker-compose.yaml. Contributed by Fabian Meyer. ([\#6656](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6656))
+- Add some helpful tips about changelog entries to the github pull request template. ([\#6663](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6663))
+- Clarify the `account_validity` and `email` sections of the sample configuration. ([\#6685](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6685))
+- Add more endpoints to the documentation for Synapse workers. ([\#6698](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6698))
+
+
+Deprecations and Removals
+-------------------------
+
+- Synapse no longer supports versions of SQLite before 3.11, and will refuse to start when configured to use an older version. Administrators are recommended to migrate their database to Postgres (see instructions [here](docs/postgres.md)). ([\#6675](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6675))
+
+
+Internal Changes
+----------------
+
+- Add `local_current_membership` table for tracking local user membership state in rooms. ([\#6655](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6655), [\#6728](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6728))
+- Port `synapse.replication.tcp` to async/await. ([\#6666](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6666))
+- Fixup `synapse.replication` to pass mypy checks. ([\#6667](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6667))
+- Allow additional_resources to implement IResource directly. ([\#6686](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6686))
+- Allow REST endpoint implementations to raise a RedirectException, which will redirect the user's browser to a given location. ([\#6687](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6687))
+- Updates and extensions to the module API. ([\#6688](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6688))
+- Updates to the SAML mapping provider API. ([\#6689](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6689), [\#6723](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6723))
+- Remove redundant RegistrationError class. ([\#6691](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6691))
+- Don't block processing of incoming EDUs behind processing PDUs in the same transaction. ([\#6697](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6697))
+- Remove duplicate check for the `session` query parameter on the `/auth/xxx/fallback/web` Client-Server endpoint. ([\#6702](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6702))
+- Attempt to retry sending a transaction when we detect a remote server has come back online, rather than waiting for a transaction to be triggered by new data. ([\#6706](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6706))
+- Add StateMap type alias to simplify types. ([\#6715](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6715))
+- Add a `DeltaState` to track changes to be made to current state during event persistence. ([\#6716](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6716))
+- Add more logging around message retention policies support. ([\#6717](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6717))
+- When processing a SAML response, log the assertions for easier configuration. ([\#6724](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6724))
+- Fixup `synapse.rest` to pass mypy. ([\#6732](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6732), [\#6764](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6764))
+- Fixup synapse.api to pass mypy. ([\#6733](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6733))
+- Allow streaming cache 'invalidate all' to workers. ([\#6749](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6749))
+- Remove unused CI docker compose files. ([\#6754](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/6754))
+
+
 Synapse 1.8.0 (2020-01-09)
 ==========================
 
diff --git a/changelog.d/5742.feature b/changelog.d/5742.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index de10302275..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5742.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Allow admin to create or modify a user. Contributed by Awesome Technologies Innovationslabor GmbH.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6621.doc b/changelog.d/6621.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index 6722ccfda3..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6621.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a typo in the configuration example for purge jobs in the sample configuration file.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6624.doc b/changelog.d/6624.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index bc9a022db2..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6624.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add complete documentation of the message retention policies support.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6654.bugfix b/changelog.d/6654.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index fed35252db..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6654.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Correctly proxy HTTP errors due to API calls to remote group servers.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6655.misc b/changelog.d/6655.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 01e78bc84e..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6655.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add `local_current_membership` table for tracking local user membership state in rooms.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6656.doc b/changelog.d/6656.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index 9f32da1a88..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6656.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-No more overriding the entire /etc folder of the container in docker-compose.yaml. Contributed by Fabian Meyer.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6663.doc b/changelog.d/6663.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index 83b9c1626a..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6663.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add some helpful tips about changelog entries to the github pull request template.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/6664.bugfix b/changelog.d/6664.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 8c6a6fa1c8..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6664.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix media repo admin APIs when using a media worker.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6665.doc b/changelog.d/6665.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index bc9a022db2..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6665.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add complete documentation of the message retention policies support.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6666.misc b/changelog.d/6666.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index e79c23d2d2..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6666.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Port `synapse.replication.tcp` to async/await.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6667.misc b/changelog.d/6667.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 227f80a508..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6667.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fixup `synapse.replication` to pass mypy checks.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6675.removal b/changelog.d/6675.removal
deleted file mode 100644
index 95df9a2d83..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6675.removal
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Synapse no longer supports versions of SQLite before 3.11, and will refuse to start when configured to use an older version. Administrators are recommended to migrate their database to Postgres (see instructions [here](docs/postgres.md)).
diff --git a/changelog.d/6681.feature b/changelog.d/6681.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 5cf19a4e0e..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6681.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add new quarantine media admin APIs to quarantine by media ID or by user who uploaded the media.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6682.bugfix b/changelog.d/6682.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index d48ea31477..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6682.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-Fix "CRITICAL" errors being logged when a request is received for a uri containing non-ascii characters.
-
diff --git a/changelog.d/6685.doc b/changelog.d/6685.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index 7cf750fe3f..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6685.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Clarify the `account_validity` and `email` sections of the sample configuration.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/6686.misc b/changelog.d/6686.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 4070f2e563..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6686.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Allow additional_resources to implement IResource directly.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6687.misc b/changelog.d/6687.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index deb0454602..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6687.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Allow REST endpoint implementations to raise a RedirectException, which will redirect the user's browser to a given location.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6688.misc b/changelog.d/6688.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 2a9f28ce5c..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6688.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Updates and extensions to the module API.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/6689.misc b/changelog.d/6689.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 17f15e73a8..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6689.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Updates to the SAML mapping provider API.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6690.bugfix b/changelog.d/6690.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 30ce1dc9f7..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6690.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a bug where we would assign a numeric userid if somebody tried registering with an empty username.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6691.misc b/changelog.d/6691.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 104e9ce648..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6691.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Remove redundant RegistrationError class.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6697.misc b/changelog.d/6697.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 5650387804..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6697.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Don't block processing of incoming EDUs behind processing PDUs in the same transaction.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6698.doc b/changelog.d/6698.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index 5aba51252d..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6698.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add more endpoints to the documentation for Synapse workers.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6702.misc b/changelog.d/6702.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index f7bc98409c..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6702.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Remove duplicate check for the `session` query parameter on the `/auth/xxx/fallback/web` Client-Server endpoint.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/6706.misc b/changelog.d/6706.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 1ac11cc04b..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6706.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Attempt to retry sending a transaction when we detect a remote server has come back online, rather than waiting for a transaction to be triggered by new data.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6711.bugfix b/changelog.d/6711.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index c70506bd88..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6711.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix `purge_room` admin API.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6712.feature b/changelog.d/6712.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 2cce0ecf88..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6712.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add org.matrix.e2e_cross_signing to unstable_features in /versions as per [MSC1756](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/1756).
diff --git a/changelog.d/6714.bugfix b/changelog.d/6714.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 410516694f..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6714.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a bug causing Synapse to not always purge quiet rooms with a low `max_lifetime` in their message retention policies when running the automated purge jobs.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6715.misc b/changelog.d/6715.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 8876b0446d..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6715.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add StateMap type alias to simplify types.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6716.misc b/changelog.d/6716.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 319aaa4acb..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6716.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add a `DeltaState` to track changes to be made to current state during event persistence.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6717.misc b/changelog.d/6717.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index a2a7776126..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6717.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add more logging around message retention policies support.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6718.bugfix b/changelog.d/6718.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 23b23e3ed8..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6718.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a bug causing the `synapse_port_db` script to return 0 in a specific error case.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6720.feature b/changelog.d/6720.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index dfc1b74d62..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6720.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add a new admin API to list and filter rooms on the server.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/6723.misc b/changelog.d/6723.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 17f15e73a8..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6723.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Updates to the SAML mapping provider API.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6724.misc b/changelog.d/6724.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 5256be75fa..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6724.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-When processing a SAML response, log the assertions for easier configuration.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6728.misc b/changelog.d/6728.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 01e78bc84e..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6728.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add `local_current_membership` table for tracking local user membership state in rooms.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6730.bugfix b/changelog.d/6730.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index beb444ca66..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6730.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix changing password via user admin API.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6731.bugfix b/changelog.d/6731.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 21f6e15cbd..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6731.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix `/events/:event_id` deprecated API.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6732.misc b/changelog.d/6732.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 8edd767405..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6732.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fixup `synapse.rest` to pass mypy.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6733.misc b/changelog.d/6733.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index bf048c0be2..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6733.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fixup synapse.api to pass mypy.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6742.bugfix b/changelog.d/6742.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index ca2687c8bb..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6742.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix monthly active user limiting support for worker mode, fixes [#4639](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/4639).
diff --git a/changelog.d/6747.bugfix b/changelog.d/6747.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index c98107e741..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6747.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix bug when setting `account_validity` to an empty block in the config. Thanks to @Sorunome for reporting.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6749.misc b/changelog.d/6749.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 9fa13cb1d4..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6749.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Allow streaming cache 'invalidate all' to workers.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6753.bugfix b/changelog.d/6753.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 5dfde793e1..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6753.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix `AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'get'` in `hash_password` when configuration has an empty `password_config`. Contributed by @ivilata.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6754.misc b/changelog.d/6754.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 0a955e47e6..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6754.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Remove unused CI docker compose files.
diff --git a/changelog.d/6756.feature b/changelog.d/6756.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 6328c868f2..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6756.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add new quarantine media admin APIs to quarantine by media ID or by user who uploaded the media.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/6764.misc b/changelog.d/6764.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 8edd767405..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/6764.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fixup `synapse.rest` to pass mypy.
diff --git a/synapse/__init__.py b/synapse/__init__.py
index 17a6f691c8..1c44ca0999 100644
--- a/synapse/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/__init__.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ try:
 except ImportError:
     pass
 
-__version__ = "1.9.0.dev2"
+__version__ = "1.9.0rc1"
 
 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