diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index dc8c74fe5802..bb6bcb75ed94 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -1,3 +1,84 @@
+Synapse 1.2.0rc1 (2019-07-22)
+=============================
+
+Features
+--------
+
+- Add support for opentracing. ([\#5544](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5544), [\#5712](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5712))
+- Add ability to pull all locally stored events out of synapse that a particular user can see. ([\#5589](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5589))
+- Add a basic admin command app to allow server operators to run Synapse admin commands separately from the main production instance. ([\#5597](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5597))
+- Add `sender` and `origin_server_ts` fields to `m.replace`. ([\#5613](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5613))
+- Add default push rule to ignore reactions. ([\#5623](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5623))
+- Include the original event when asking for its relations. ([\#5626](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5626))
+- Implement `session_lifetime` configuration option, after which access tokens will expire. ([\#5660](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5660))
+- Return "This account has been deactivated" when a deactivated user tries to login. ([\#5674](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5674))
+- Enable aggregations support by default ([\#5714](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5714))
+
+
+Bugfixes
+--------
+
+- Fix 'utime went backwards' errors on daemonization. ([\#5609](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5609))
+- Various minor fixes to the federation request rate limiter. ([\#5621](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5621))
+- Forbid viewing relations on an event once it has been redacted. ([\#5629](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5629))
+- Fix requests to the `/store_invite` endpoint of identity servers being sent in the wrong format. ([\#5638](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5638))
+- Fix newly-registered users not being able to lookup their own profile without joining a room. ([\#5644](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5644))
+- Fix bug in #5626 that prevented the original_event field from actually having the contents of the original event in a call to `/relations`. ([\#5654](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5654))
+- Fix 3PID bind requests being sent to identity servers as `application/x-form-www-urlencoded` data, which is deprecated. ([\#5658](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5658))
+- Fix some problems with authenticating redactions in recent room versions. ([\#5699](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5699), [\#5700](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5700), [\#5707](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5707))
+- Ignore redactions of m.room.create events. ([\#5701](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5701))
+
+
+Updates to the Docker image
+---------------------------
+
+- Base Docker image on a newer Alpine Linux version (3.8 -> 3.10). ([\#5619](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5619))
+- Add missing space in default logging file format generated by the Docker image. ([\#5620](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5620))
+
+
+Improved Documentation
+----------------------
+
+- Add information about nginx normalisation to reverse_proxy.rst. Contributed by @skalarproduktraum - thanks! ([\#5397](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5397))
+- --no-pep517 should be --no-use-pep517 in the documentation to setup the development environment. ([\#5651](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5651))
+- Improvements to Postgres setup instructions. Contributed by @Lrizika - thanks! ([\#5661](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5661))
+- Minor tweaks to postgres documentation. ([\#5675](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5675))
+
+
+Deprecations and Removals
+-------------------------
+
+- Remove support for the `invite_3pid_guest` configuration setting. ([\#5625](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5625))
+
+
+Internal Changes
+----------------
+
+- Move logging code out of `synapse.util` and into `synapse.logging`. ([\#5606](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5606), [\#5617](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5617))
+- Add a blacklist file to the repo to blacklist certain sytests from failing CI. ([\#5611](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5611))
+- Make runtime errors surrounding password reset emails much clearer. ([\#5616](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5616))
+- Remove dead code for persiting outgoing federation transactions. ([\#5622](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5622))
+- Add `lint.sh` to the scripts-dev folder which will run all linting steps required by CI. ([\#5627](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5627))
+- Move RegistrationHandler.get_or_create_user to test code. ([\#5628](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5628))
+- Add some more common python virtual-environment paths to the black exclusion list. ([\#5630](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5630))
+- Some counter metrics exposed over Prometheus have been renamed, with the old names preserved for backwards compatibility and deprecated. See `docs/metrics-howto.rst` for details. ([\#5636](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5636))
+- Unblacklist some user_directory sytests. ([\#5637](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5637))
+- Factor out some redundant code in the login implementation. ([\#5639](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5639))
+- Update ModuleApi to avoid register(generate_token=True). ([\#5640](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5640))
+- Remove access-token support from `RegistrationHandler.register`, and rename it. ([\#5641](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5641))
+- Remove access-token support from `RegistrationStore.register`, and rename it. ([\#5642](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5642))
+- Improve logging for auto-join when a new user is created. ([\#5643](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5643))
+- Remove unused and unnecessary check for FederationDeniedError in _exception_to_failure. ([\#5645](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5645))
+- Fix a small typo in a code comment. ([\#5655](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5655))
+- Clean up exception handling around client access tokens. ([\#5656](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5656))
+- Add a mechanism for per-test homeserver configuration in the unit tests. ([\#5657](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5657))
+- Inline issue_access_token. ([\#5659](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5659))
+- Update the sytest BuildKite configuration to checkout Synapse in `/src`. ([\#5664](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5664))
+- Add a `docker` type to the towncrier configuration. ([\#5673](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5673))
+- Convert `synapse.federation.transport.server` to `async`. Might improve some stack traces. ([\#5689](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5689))
+- Documentation for opentracing. ([\#5703](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/5703))
+
+
 Synapse 1.1.0 (2019-07-04)
 ==========================
 
diff --git a/changelog.d/5397.doc b/changelog.d/5397.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index c2b500b482d8..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5397.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add information about nginx normalisation to reverse_proxy.rst. Contributed by @skalarproduktraum - thanks!
diff --git a/changelog.d/5544.feature b/changelog.d/5544.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 7d3459129d14..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5544.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-Add support for opentracing.
-
diff --git a/changelog.d/5589.feature b/changelog.d/5589.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index a87e669dd4ea..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5589.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add ability to pull all locally stored events out of synapse that a particular user can see.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5597.feature b/changelog.d/5597.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 6f92748885b4..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5597.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add a basic admin command app to allow server operators to run Synapse admin commands separately from the main production instance.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5606.misc b/changelog.d/5606.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index bb3c02816789..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5606.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Move logging code out of `synapse.util` and into `synapse.logging`.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5609.bugfix b/changelog.d/5609.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 534ee22a1b3f..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5609.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix 'utime went backwards' errors on daemonization.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5611.misc b/changelog.d/5611.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index a2d169513912..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5611.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add a blacklist file to the repo to blacklist certain sytests from failing CI.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5613.feature b/changelog.d/5613.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 4b7bb2745c19..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5613.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add `sender` and `origin_server_ts` fields to `m.replace`.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5616.misc b/changelog.d/5616.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 9f94be6778c6..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5616.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Make runtime errors surrounding password reset emails much clearer.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5617.misc b/changelog.d/5617.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index bb3c02816789..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5617.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Move logging code out of `synapse.util` and into `synapse.logging`.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5619.docker b/changelog.d/5619.docker
deleted file mode 100644
index b69e5cc57cb5..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5619.docker
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Base Docker image on a newer Alpine Linux version (3.8 -> 3.10).
diff --git a/changelog.d/5620.docker b/changelog.d/5620.docker
deleted file mode 100644
index cbb5a75d6ad5..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5620.docker
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add missing space in default logging file format generated by the Docker image.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5621.bugfix b/changelog.d/5621.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index f1a2851f45ef..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5621.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Various minor fixes to the federation request rate limiter.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5622.misc b/changelog.d/5622.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 9f0a87311c27..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5622.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Remove dead code for persiting outgoing federation transactions.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5623.feature b/changelog.d/5623.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index b73080e88d29..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5623.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add default push rule to ignore reactions.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5625.removal b/changelog.d/5625.removal
deleted file mode 100644
index d33a778d695d..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5625.removal
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Remove support for the `invite_3pid_guest` configuration setting.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5626.feature b/changelog.d/5626.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 5ef793b943a0..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5626.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Include the original event when asking for its relations.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5627.misc b/changelog.d/5627.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 730721b5ef19..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5627.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add `lint.sh` to the scripts-dev folder which will run all linting steps required by CI.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5628.misc b/changelog.d/5628.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index fec8446793a0..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5628.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Move RegistrationHandler.get_or_create_user to test code.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5629.bugfix b/changelog.d/5629.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 672eabad4085..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5629.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Forbid viewing relations on an event once it has been redacted.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5630.misc b/changelog.d/5630.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index f112d873eb80..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5630.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add some more common python virtual-environment paths to the black exclusion list.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5636.misc b/changelog.d/5636.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 3add9902832f..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5636.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Some counter metrics exposed over Prometheus have been renamed, with the old names preserved for backwards compatibility and deprecated. See `docs/metrics-howto.rst` for details.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/5637.misc b/changelog.d/5637.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index f18d6197e51a..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5637.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Unblacklist some user_directory sytests.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5638.bugfix b/changelog.d/5638.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 66781ad9e687..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5638.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix requests to the `/store_invite` endpoint of identity servers being sent in the wrong format.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5639.misc b/changelog.d/5639.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 413b13128c6f..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5639.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Factor out some redundant code in the login implementation.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5640.misc b/changelog.d/5640.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 7d69a1b3b640..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5640.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Update ModuleApi to avoid register(generate_token=True).
diff --git a/changelog.d/5641.misc b/changelog.d/5641.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 1899bc963d4e..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5641.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Remove access-token support from RegistrationHandler.register, and rename it.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5642.misc b/changelog.d/5642.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index e7f8e214a4e6..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5642.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Remove access-token support from `RegistrationStore.register`, and rename it.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5643.misc b/changelog.d/5643.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 2b2316469e03..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5643.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Improve logging for auto-join when a new user is created.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5644.bugfix b/changelog.d/5644.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index f6302fd08dd3..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5644.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix newly-registered users not being able to lookup their own profile without joining a room.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5645.misc b/changelog.d/5645.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 4fa9699e4fae..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5645.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Remove unused and unnecessary check for FederationDeniedError in _exception_to_failure.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/5651.doc b/changelog.d/5651.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index e2d5a8dc8ad7..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5651.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
---no-pep517 should be --no-use-pep517 in the documentation to setup the development environment.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5654.bugfix b/changelog.d/5654.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 5f76b041cd1c..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5654.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix bug in #5626 that prevented the original_event field from actually having the contents of the original event in a call to `/relations`.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/5655.misc b/changelog.d/5655.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index acab6aee92bf..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5655.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a small typo in a code comment.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/5656.misc b/changelog.d/5656.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index a8de20a7d01e..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5656.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Clean up exception handling around client access tokens.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5657.misc b/changelog.d/5657.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index bdec9ae4c0b6..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5657.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add a mechanism for per-test homeserver configuration in the unit tests.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5658.bugfix b/changelog.d/5658.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index f6ae906a9ad6..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5658.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix 3PID bind requests being sent to identity servers as `application/x-form-www-urlencoded` data, which is deprecated.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5659.misc b/changelog.d/5659.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 686001295c33..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5659.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Inline issue_access_token.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5660.feature b/changelog.d/5660.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 82889fdaf16b..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5660.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Implement `session_lifetime` configuration option, after which access tokens will expire.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5661.doc b/changelog.d/5661.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index c70e62014e40..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5661.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Improvements to Postgres setup instructions. Contributed by @Lrizika - thanks!
diff --git a/changelog.d/5664.misc b/changelog.d/5664.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 0ca7a0fbd0c7..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5664.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Update the sytest BuildKite configuration to checkout Synapse in `/src`.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5673.misc b/changelog.d/5673.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 194225635834..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5673.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add a `docker` type to the towncrier configuration.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5674.feature b/changelog.d/5674.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 04bdfa4ad5eb..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5674.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Return "This account has been deactivated" when a deactivated user tries to login.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5675.doc b/changelog.d/5675.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index 4cd4d0be1a5a..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5675.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Minor tweaks to postgres documentation.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5689.misc b/changelog.d/5689.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 8aa3e3f6a220..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5689.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Convert `synapse.federation.transport.server` to `async`. Might improve some stack traces.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/5699.bugfix b/changelog.d/5699.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 30d5e67f6774..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5699.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix some problems with authenticating redactions in recent room versions.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/5700.bugfix b/changelog.d/5700.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 51bce8d441e1..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5700.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-Fix some problems with authenticating redactions in recent room versions.
-
diff --git a/changelog.d/5701.bugfix b/changelog.d/5701.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index fd2866e16abe..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5701.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Ignore redactions of m.room.create events.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5703.misc b/changelog.d/5703.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 6e9b2d734e03..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5703.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Documentation for opentracing.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5707.bugfix b/changelog.d/5707.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index aa3046c5e112..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5707.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix some problems with authenticating redactions in recent room versions.
diff --git a/changelog.d/5712.feature b/changelog.d/5712.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 7d3459129d14..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5712.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-Add support for opentracing.
-
diff --git a/changelog.d/5714.feature b/changelog.d/5714.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 2fd32e5e3858..000000000000
--- a/changelog.d/5714.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Enable aggregations support by default
diff --git a/synapse/__init__.py b/synapse/__init__.py
index cf22fabd6118..f26e49da3623 100644
--- a/synapse/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/__init__.py
@@ -35,4 +35,4 @@
 except ImportError:
     pass
 
-__version__ = "1.1.0"
+__version__ = "1.2.0rc1"