| diff --git a/synapse/util/iterutils.py b/synapse/util/iterutils.py
index 6ef2b008a4..8d2411513f 100644
--- a/synapse/util/iterutils.py
+++ b/synapse/util/iterutils.py
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ def sorted_topologically(
         if node not in degree_map:
             continue
 
-        for edge in edges:
+        for edge in set(edges):
             if edge in degree_map:
                 degree_map[node] += 1
 
diff --git a/synapse/util/module_loader.py b/synapse/util/module_loader.py
 index 1ee61851e4..09b094ded7 100644
--- a/synapse/util/module_loader.py
+++ b/synapse/util/module_loader.py
@@ -49,7 +49,8 @@ def load_module(provider: dict, config_path: Iterable[str]) -> Tuple[Type, Any]:
     module = importlib.import_module(module)
     provider_class = getattr(module, clz)
 
-    module_config = provider.get("config")
+    # Load the module config. If None, pass an empty dictionary instead
+    module_config = provider.get("config") or {}
     try:
         provider_config = provider_class.parse_config(module_config)
     except jsonschema.ValidationError as e:
diff --git a/synapse/util/stringutils.py b/synapse/util/stringutils.py
 index b103c8694c..f8038bf861 100644
--- a/synapse/util/stringutils.py
+++ b/synapse/util/stringutils.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import random
 import re
 import string
 from collections.abc import Iterable
+from typing import Optional, Tuple
 
 from synapse.api.errors import Codes, SynapseError
 
@@ -26,6 +27,15 @@ _string_with_symbols = string.digits + string.ascii_letters + ".,;:^&*-_+=#~@"
 # https://matrix.org/docs/spec/client_server/r0.6.0#post-matrix-client-r0-register-email-requesttoken
 client_secret_regex = re.compile(r"^[0-9a-zA-Z\.\=\_\-]+$")
 
+# https://matrix.org/docs/spec/client_server/r0.6.1#matrix-content-mxc-uris,
+# together with https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/issues/2177 which basically
+# says "there is no grammar for media ids"
+#
+# The server_name part of this is purposely lax: use parse_and_validate_mxc for
+# additional validation.
+#
+MXC_REGEX = re.compile("^mxc://([^/]+)/([^/#?]+)$")
+
 # random_string and random_string_with_symbols are used for a range of things,
 # some cryptographically important, some less so. We use SystemRandom to make sure
 # we get cryptographically-secure randoms.
@@ -59,6 +69,88 @@ def assert_valid_client_secret(client_secret):
         )
 
 
+def parse_server_name(server_name: str) -> Tuple[str, Optional[int]]:
+    """Split a server name into host/port parts.
+
+    Args:
+        server_name: server name to parse
+
+    Returns:
+        host/port parts.
+
+    Raises:
+        ValueError if the server name could not be parsed.
+    """
+    try:
+        if server_name[-1] == "]":
+            # ipv6 literal, hopefully
+            return server_name, None
+
+        domain_port = server_name.rsplit(":", 1)
+        domain = domain_port[0]
+        port = int(domain_port[1]) if domain_port[1:] else None
+        return domain, port
+    except Exception:
+        raise ValueError("Invalid server name '%s'" % server_name)
+
+
+VALID_HOST_REGEX = re.compile("\\A[0-9a-zA-Z.-]+\\Z")
+
+
+def parse_and_validate_server_name(server_name: str) -> Tuple[str, Optional[int]]:
+    """Split a server name into host/port parts and do some basic validation.
+
+    Args:
+        server_name: server name to parse
+
+    Returns:
+        host/port parts.
+
+    Raises:
+        ValueError if the server name could not be parsed.
+    """
+    host, port = parse_server_name(server_name)
+
+    # these tests don't need to be bulletproof as we'll find out soon enough
+    # if somebody is giving us invalid data. What we *do* need is to be sure
+    # that nobody is sneaking IP literals in that look like hostnames, etc.
+
+    # look for ipv6 literals
+    if host[0] == "[":
+        if host[-1] != "]":
+            raise ValueError("Mismatched [...] in server name '%s'" % (server_name,))
+        return host, port
+
+    # otherwise it should only be alphanumerics.
+    if not VALID_HOST_REGEX.match(host):
+        raise ValueError(
+            "Server name '%s' contains invalid characters" % (server_name,)
+        )
+
+    return host, port
+
+
+def parse_and_validate_mxc_uri(mxc: str) -> Tuple[str, Optional[int], str]:
+    """Parse the given string as an MXC URI
+
+    Checks that the "server name" part is a valid server name
+
+    Args:
+        mxc: the (alleged) MXC URI to be checked
+    Returns:
+        hostname, port, media id
+    Raises:
+        ValueError if the URI cannot be parsed
+    """
+    m = MXC_REGEX.match(mxc)
+    if not m:
+        raise ValueError("mxc URI %r did not match expected format" % (mxc,))
+    server_name = m.group(1)
+    media_id = m.group(2)
+    host, port = parse_and_validate_server_name(server_name)
+    return host, port, media_id
+
+
 def shortstr(iterable: Iterable, maxitems: int = 5) -> str:
     """If iterable has maxitems or fewer, return the stringification of a list
     containing those items.
diff --git a/synapse/util/templates.py b/synapse/util/templates.py
new file mode 100644
 index 0000000000..7e5109d206
--- /dev/null
+++ b/synapse/util/templates.py
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Copyright 2021 The Matrix.org Foundation C.I.C.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+"""Utilities for dealing with jinja2 templates"""
+
+import time
+import urllib.parse
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Callable, Iterable, Union
+
+import jinja2
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from synapse.config.homeserver import HomeServerConfig
+
+
+def build_jinja_env(
+    template_search_directories: Iterable[str],
+    config: "HomeServerConfig",
+    autoescape: Union[bool, Callable[[str], bool], None] = None,
+) -> jinja2.Environment:
+    """Set up a Jinja2 environment to load templates from the given search path
+
+    The returned environment defines the following filters:
+        - format_ts: formats timestamps as strings in the server's local timezone
+             (XXX: why is that useful??)
+        - mxc_to_http: converts mxc: uris to http URIs. Args are:
+             (uri, width, height, resize_method="crop")
+
+    and the following global variables:
+        - server_name: matrix server name
+
+    Args:
+        template_search_directories: directories to search for templates
+
+        config: homeserver config, for things like `server_name` and `public_baseurl`
+
+        autoescape: whether template variables should be autoescaped. bool, or
+           a function mapping from template name to bool. Defaults to escaping templates
+           whose names end in .html, .xml or .htm.
+
+    Returns:
+        jinja environment
+    """
+
+    if autoescape is None:
+        autoescape = jinja2.select_autoescape()
+
+    loader = jinja2.FileSystemLoader(template_search_directories)
+    env = jinja2.Environment(loader=loader, autoescape=autoescape)
+
+    # Update the environment with our custom filters
+    env.filters.update(
+        {
+            "format_ts": _format_ts_filter,
+            "mxc_to_http": _create_mxc_to_http_filter(config.public_baseurl),
+        }
+    )
+
+    # common variables for all templates
+    env.globals.update({"server_name": config.server_name})
+
+    return env
+
+
+def _create_mxc_to_http_filter(public_baseurl: str) -> Callable:
+    """Create and return a jinja2 filter that converts MXC urls to HTTP
+
+    Args:
+        public_baseurl: The public, accessible base URL of the homeserver
+    """
+
+    def mxc_to_http_filter(value, width, height, resize_method="crop"):
+        if value[0:6] != "mxc://":
+            return ""
+
+        server_and_media_id = value[6:]
+        fragment = None
+        if "#" in server_and_media_id:
+            server_and_media_id, fragment = server_and_media_id.split("#", 1)
+            fragment = "#" + fragment
+
+        params = {"width": width, "height": height, "method": resize_method}
+        return "%s_matrix/media/v1/thumbnail/%s?%s%s" % (
+            public_baseurl,
+            server_and_media_id,
+            urllib.parse.urlencode(params),
+            fragment or "",
+        )
+
+    return mxc_to_http_filter
+
+
+def _format_ts_filter(value: int, format: str):
+    return time.strftime(format, time.localtime(value / 1000))
 |