diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index 0e5e052951..b96ac701d5 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -1,3 +1,82 @@
+Synapse 1.41.0rc1 (2021-08-18)
+==============================
+
+Features
+--------
+
+- Add `get_userinfo_by_id` method to ModuleApi. ([\#9581](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/9581))
+- Initial local support for [MSC3266](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/pull/10394), Room Summary over the unstable `/rooms/{roomIdOrAlias}/summary` API. ([\#10394](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10394))
+- Experimental support for [MSC3288](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/3288), sending `room_type` to the identity server for 3pid invites over the `/store-invite` API. ([\#10435](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10435))
+- Add support for sending federation requests through a proxy. Contributed by @Bubu and @dklimpel. ([\#10475](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10475))
+- Add support for "marker" events which makes historical events discoverable for servers that already have all of the scrollback history (part of MSC2716). ([\#10498](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10498))
+- Add a configuration setting for the time a `/sync` response is cached for. ([\#10513](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10513))
+- The default logging handler for new installations is now `PeriodicallyFlushingMemoryHandler`, a buffered logging handler which periodically flushes itself. ([\#10518](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10518))
+- Add support for new redaction rules for historical events specified in [MSC2716](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/2716). ([\#10538](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10538))
+- Add a setting to disable TLS when sending email. ([\#10546](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10546))
+- Add pagination to the spaces summary based on updates to [MSC2946](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/2946). ([\#10549](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10549), [\#10560](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10560), [\#10569](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10569), [\#10574](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10574), [\#10575](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10575), [\#10579](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10579), [\#10583](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10583))
+- Admin API to delete several media for a specific user. Contributed by @dklimpel. ([\#10558](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10558), [\#10628](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10628))
+- Add support for routing `/createRoom` to workers. ([\#10564](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10564))
+- Update the Synapse Grafana dashboard. ([\#10570](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10570))
+- Add an admin API (`GET /_synapse/admin/username_available`) to check if a username is available (regardless of registration settings). ([\#10578](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10578))
+- Allow editing a user's `external_ids` via the "Edit User" admin API. Contributed by @dklimpel. ([\#10598](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10598))
+- The Synapse manhole no longer needs coroutines to be wrapped in `defer.ensureDeferred`. ([\#10602](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10602))
+- Add option to allow modules to run periodic tasks on all instances, rather than just the one configured to run background tasks. ([\#10638](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10638))
+
+
+Bugfixes
+--------
+
+- Add some clarification to the sample config file. Contributed by @Kentokamoto. ([\#10129](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10129))
+- Fix a long-standing bug where protocols which are not implemented by any appservices were incorrectly returned via `GET /_matrix/client/r0/thirdparty/protocols`. ([\#10532](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10532))
+- Fix exceptions in logs when failing to get remote room list. ([\#10541](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10541))
+- Fix longstanding bug which caused the user "status" to be reset when the user went offline. Contributed by @dklimpel. ([\#10550](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10550))
+- Allow public rooms to be previewed in the spaces summary APIs from [MSC2946](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/2946). ([\#10580](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10580))
+- Fix a bug introduced in v1.37.1 where an error could occur in the asyncronous processing of PDUs when the queue was empty. ([\#10592](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10592))
+- Fix errors on /sync when read receipt data is a string. Only affects homeservers with the experimental flag for [MSC2285](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/2285) enabled. Contributed by @SimonBrandner. ([\#10606](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10606))
+- Additional validation for the spaces summary API to avoid errors like `ValueError: Stop argument for islice() must be None or an integer`. The missing validation has existed since v1.31.0. ([\#10611](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10611))
+- Revert behaviour introduced in v1.38.0 that strips `org.matrix.msc2732.device_unused_fallback_key_types` from `/sync` when its value is empty. This field should instead always be present according to [MSC2732](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/blob/master/proposals/2732-olm-fallback-keys.md). ([\#10623](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10623))
+
+
+Improved Documentation
+----------------------
+
+- Add documentation for configuration a forward proxy. ([\#10443](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10443))
+- Updated the reverse proxy documentation to highlight the homserver configuration that is needed to make Synapse aware that is is intentionally reverse proxied. ([\#10551](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10551))
+- Update CONTRIBUTING.md to fix index links and the instructions for SyTest in docker. ([\#10599](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10599))
+
+
+Deprecations and Removals
+-------------------------
+
+- No longer build `.dev` packages for Ubuntu 20.10 LTS Groovy Gorilla, which has now EOLed. ([\#10588](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10588))
+- The `template_dir` configuration settings in the `sso`, `account_validity` and `email` sections of the configuration file are now deprecated in favour of the global `templates.custom_template_directory` setting. See the [upgrade notes](https://matrix-org.github.io/synapse/latest/upgrade.html) for more information. ([\#10596](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10596))
+
+
+Internal Changes
+----------------
+
+- Improve event caching mechanism to avoid having multiple copies of an event in memory at a time. ([\#10119](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10119))
+- Reduce errors in PostgreSQL logs due to concurrent serialization errors. ([\#10504](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10504))
+- Include room ID in ignored EDU log messages. Contributed by @ilmari. ([\#10507](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10507))
+- Add pagination to the spaces summary based on updates to [MSC2946](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/2946). ([\#10527](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10527), [\#10530](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10530))
+- Fix CI to not break when run against branches rather than pull requests. ([\#10529](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10529))
+- Mark all events stemming from the MSC2716 `/batch_send` endpoint as historical. ([\#10537](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10537))
+- Clean up some of the federation event authentication code for clarity. ([\#10539](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10539), [\#10591](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10591))
+- Convert `Transaction` and `Edu` objects to attrs. ([\#10542](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10542))
+- Update `/batch_send` endpoint to only return `state_events` created by the `state_events_from_before` passed in. ([\#10552](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10552))
+- Update contributing.md to warn against rebasing an open PR. ([\#10563](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10563))
+- Remove the unused public rooms replication stream. ([\#10565](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10565))
+- Clarify error message when failing to join a restricted room. ([\#10572](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10572))
+- Remove references to BuildKite in favour of GitHub Actions. ([\#10573](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10573))
+- Move `/batch_send` endpoint defined by [MSC2716](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/2716) to the `/v2_alpha` directory. ([\#10576](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10576))
+- Allow multiple custom directories in `read_templates`. ([\#10587](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10587))
+- Re-organize the `synapse.federation.transport.server` module to create smaller files. ([\#10590](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10590))
+- Flatten the `synapse.rest.client` package by moving the contents of `v1` and `v2_alpha` into the parent. ([\#10600](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10600))
+- Build Debian packages for Debian 12 (Bookworm). ([\#10612](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10612))
+- Fix up a couple of links to the database schema documentation. ([\#10620](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10620))
+- Fix a broken link to the upgrade notes. ([\#10631](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10631))
+
+
 Synapse 1.40.0 (2021-08-10)
 ===========================
 
diff --git a/changelog.d/10119.misc b/changelog.d/10119.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index f70dc6496f..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10119.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Improve event caching mechanism to avoid having multiple copies of an event in memory at a time.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10129.bugfix b/changelog.d/10129.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 292676ec8d..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10129.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add some clarification to the sample config file. Contributed by @Kentokamoto.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10394.feature b/changelog.d/10394.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index c8bbc5a740..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10394.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Initial local support for [MSC3266](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/pull/10394), Room Summary over the unstable `/rooms/{roomIdOrAlias}/summary` API.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10435.feature b/changelog.d/10435.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index f93ef5b415..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10435.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Experimental support for [MSC3288](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/3288), sending `room_type` to the identity server for 3pid invites over the `/store-invite` API.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10443.doc b/changelog.d/10443.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index 3588e5487f..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10443.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add documentation for configuration a forward proxy.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10475.feature b/changelog.d/10475.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 52eab11b03..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10475.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add support for sending federation requests through a proxy. Contributed by @Bubu and @dklimpel.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/10498.feature b/changelog.d/10498.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 5df896572d..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10498.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add support for "marker" events which makes historical events discoverable for servers that already have all of the scrollback history (part of MSC2716).
diff --git a/changelog.d/10504.misc b/changelog.d/10504.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 1479a5022d..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10504.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Reduce errors in PostgreSQL logs due to concurrent serialization errors.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10507.misc b/changelog.d/10507.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 5dfd116e60..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10507.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Include room ID in ignored EDU log messages. Contributed by @ilmari.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10513.feature b/changelog.d/10513.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 153b2df7b2..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10513.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add a configuration setting for the time a `/sync` response is cached for.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10518.feature b/changelog.d/10518.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 112e4d105c..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10518.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-The default logging handler for new installations is now `PeriodicallyFlushingMemoryHandler`, a buffered logging handler which periodically flushes itself.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10527.misc b/changelog.d/10527.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index ffc4e4289c..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10527.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add pagination to the spaces summary based on updates to [MSC2946](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/2946).
diff --git a/changelog.d/10529.misc b/changelog.d/10529.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 4caf22523c..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10529.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix CI to not break when run against branches rather than pull requests.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10530.misc b/changelog.d/10530.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index ffc4e4289c..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10530.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add pagination to the spaces summary based on updates to [MSC2946](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/2946).
diff --git a/changelog.d/10532.bugfix b/changelog.d/10532.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index d95e3d9b59..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10532.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a long-standing bug where protocols which are not implemented by any appservices were incorrectly returned via `GET /_matrix/client/r0/thirdparty/protocols`.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10537.misc b/changelog.d/10537.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index c9e045300c..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10537.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Mark all events stemming from the MSC2716 `/batch_send` endpoint as historical.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10538.feature b/changelog.d/10538.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 120c8e8ca0..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10538.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add support for new redaction rules for historical events specified in [MSC2716](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/2716).
diff --git a/changelog.d/10539.misc b/changelog.d/10539.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 9a765435db..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10539.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Clean up some of the federation event authentication code for clarity.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10541.bugfix b/changelog.d/10541.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index bb946e0920..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10541.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix exceptions in logs when failing to get remote room list.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10542.misc b/changelog.d/10542.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 44b70b4730..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10542.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Convert `Transaction` and `Edu` objects to attrs.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10546.feature b/changelog.d/10546.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 7709d010b3..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10546.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add a setting to disable TLS when sending email.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10549.feature b/changelog.d/10549.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index ffc4e4289c..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10549.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add pagination to the spaces summary based on updates to [MSC2946](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/2946).
diff --git a/changelog.d/10550.bugfix b/changelog.d/10550.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 2e1b7c8bbb..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10550.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix longstanding bug which caused the user "status" to be reset when the user went offline. Contributed by @dklimpel.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10551.doc b/changelog.d/10551.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index 4a2b0785bf..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10551.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Updated the reverse proxy documentation to highlight the homserver configuration that is needed to make Synapse aware that is is intentionally reverse proxied.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10552.misc b/changelog.d/10552.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index fc5f6aea5f..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10552.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Update `/batch_send` endpoint to only return `state_events` created by the `state_events_from_before` passed in.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10558.feature b/changelog.d/10558.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 1f461bc70a..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10558.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Admin API to delete several media for a specific user. Contributed by @dklimpel.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10560.feature b/changelog.d/10560.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index ffc4e4289c..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10560.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add pagination to the spaces summary based on updates to [MSC2946](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/2946).
diff --git a/changelog.d/10563.misc b/changelog.d/10563.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 8e4e90c8f4..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10563.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Update contributing.md to warn against rebasing an open PR.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10564.feature b/changelog.d/10564.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 4de32240b2..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10564.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add support for routing `/createRoom` to workers.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10565.misc b/changelog.d/10565.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 06796b61ab..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10565.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Remove the unused public rooms replication stream.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/10569.feature b/changelog.d/10569.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index ffc4e4289c..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10569.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add pagination to the spaces summary based on updates to [MSC2946](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/2946).
diff --git a/changelog.d/10570.feature b/changelog.d/10570.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index bd432685b3..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10570.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Update the Synapse Grafana dashboard.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10572.misc b/changelog.d/10572.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 008d7be444..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10572.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Clarify error message when failing to join a restricted room.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10573.misc b/changelog.d/10573.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index fc9b1a2f70..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10573.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Remove references to BuildKite in favour of GitHub Actions.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/10574.feature b/changelog.d/10574.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index ffc4e4289c..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10574.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add pagination to the spaces summary based on updates to [MSC2946](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/2946).
diff --git a/changelog.d/10575.feature b/changelog.d/10575.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index ffc4e4289c..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10575.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add pagination to the spaces summary based on updates to [MSC2946](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/2946).
diff --git a/changelog.d/10576.misc b/changelog.d/10576.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index f9f9c9a6fd..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10576.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Move `/batch_send` endpoint defined by [MSC2716](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/2716) to the `/v2_alpha` directory.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10578.feature b/changelog.d/10578.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 02397f0009..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10578.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add an admin API (`GET /_synapse/admin/username_available`) to check if a username is available (regardless of registration settings).
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/10579.feature b/changelog.d/10579.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index ffc4e4289c..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10579.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add pagination to the spaces summary based on updates to [MSC2946](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/2946).
diff --git a/changelog.d/10580.bugfix b/changelog.d/10580.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index f8da7382b7..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10580.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Allow public rooms to be previewed in the spaces summary APIs from [MSC2946](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/2946).
diff --git a/changelog.d/10583.feature b/changelog.d/10583.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index ffc4e4289c..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10583.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add pagination to the spaces summary based on updates to [MSC2946](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/2946).
diff --git a/changelog.d/10587.misc b/changelog.d/10587.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 4c6167977c..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10587.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Allow multiple custom directories in `read_templates`.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10588.removal b/changelog.d/10588.removal
deleted file mode 100644
index 90c4b5cee2..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10588.removal
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-No longer build `.dev` packages for Ubuntu 20.10 LTS Groovy Gorilla, which has now EOLed.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/10590.misc b/changelog.d/10590.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 62fec717da..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10590.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Re-organize the `synapse.federation.transport.server` module to create smaller files.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10591.misc b/changelog.d/10591.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 9a765435db..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10591.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Clean up some of the federation event authentication code for clarity.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10592.bugfix b/changelog.d/10592.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index efcdab1136..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10592.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a bug introduced in v1.37.1 where an error could occur in the asyncronous processing of PDUs when the queue was empty.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10596.removal b/changelog.d/10596.removal
deleted file mode 100644
index e69f632db4..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10596.removal
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-The `template_dir` configuration settings in the `sso`, `account_validity` and `email` sections of the configuration file are now deprecated in favour of the global `templates.custom_template_directory` setting. See the [upgrade notes](https://matrix-org.github.io/synapse/latest/upgrade.html) for more information.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10598.feature b/changelog.d/10598.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 92c159118b..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10598.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Allow editing a user's `external_ids` via the "Edit User" admin API. Contributed by @dklimpel.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/10599.doc b/changelog.d/10599.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index 66e72078f0..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10599.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Update CONTRIBUTING.md to fix index links and the instructions for SyTest in docker.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10600.misc b/changelog.d/10600.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 489dc20b11..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10600.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Flatten the `synapse.rest.client` package by moving the contents of `v1` and `v2_alpha` into the parent.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10602.feature b/changelog.d/10602.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index ab18291a20..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10602.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-The Synapse manhole no longer needs coroutines to be wrapped in `defer.ensureDeferred`.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10606.bugfix b/changelog.d/10606.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index bab9fd2a61..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10606.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix errors on /sync when read receipt data is a string. Only affects homeservers with the experimental flag for [MSC2285](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/2285) enabled. Contributed by @SimonBrandner.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10611.bugfix b/changelog.d/10611.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index ecbe408b47..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10611.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Additional validation for the spaces summary API to avoid errors like `ValueError: Stop argument for islice() must be None or an integer`. The missing validation has existed since v1.31.0.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10612.misc b/changelog.d/10612.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index c7a9457022..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10612.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Build Debian packages for Debian 12 (Bookworm).
diff --git a/changelog.d/10620.misc b/changelog.d/10620.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 8b29668a1f..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10620.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix up a couple of links to the database schema documentation.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10623.bugfix b/changelog.d/10623.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 759fba3513..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10623.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Revert behaviour introduced in v1.38.0 that strips `org.matrix.msc2732.device_unused_fallback_key_types` from `/sync` when its value is empty. This field should instead always be present according to [MSC2732](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/blob/master/proposals/2732-olm-fallback-keys.md).
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/10628.feature b/changelog.d/10628.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 708cb9b599..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10628.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Admin API to delete several media for a specific user. Contributed by @dklimpel.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/10631.misc b/changelog.d/10631.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index d2a4624d53..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10631.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a broken link to the upgrade notes.
diff --git a/changelog.d/10638.feature b/changelog.d/10638.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index c1de91f334..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10638.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add option to allow modules to run periodic tasks on all instances, rather than just the one configured to run background tasks.
diff --git a/changelog.d/9581.feature b/changelog.d/9581.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index fa1949cd4b..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/9581.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add `get_userinfo_by_id` method to ModuleApi.
diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index e101423fe4..68f309b0b2 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+matrix-synapse-py3 (1.41.0~rc1) stable; urgency=medium
+
+  * New synapse release 1.41.0~rc1.
+
+ -- Synapse Packaging team <packages@matrix.org>  Wed, 18 Aug 2021 15:52:00 +0100
+
 matrix-synapse-py3 (1.40.0) stable; urgency=medium
 
   * New synapse release 1.40.0.
diff --git a/synapse/__init__.py b/synapse/__init__.py
index 919293cd80..6ada20a77f 100644
--- a/synapse/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/__init__.py
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ try:
 except ImportError:
     pass
 
-__version__ = "1.40.0"
+__version__ = "1.41.0rc1"
 
 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