The renaissance for Poznań was a period of steady urban, economic and cultural development. The most prominent figure during this period was the Bishop of Poznań, Jan Lubrański (1456-1520), an enlightened and enterprising humanist educated in Rome and Bologna. In Poznań, he enclosed Ostrów Tumski with a defensive wall, built a psalter house and, most importantly, opened an academy which would make Wielkopolska independent of the Cracow Academy. He founded the Academia Lubransciana (named after himself) in 1518.

The Lubrański Academy operated from a still extant building on Ostrów Tumski erected in 1518-1530. The academy reached its greatest heights during the second quarter of the 16^th century, when people like the humanist Christoph Hegendorff taught there. Graduates included Józef Struś – doctor and future mayor of Poznań, Klemens Janicki – famous Latin poet, and Jan Śniadecki – mathematician and astronomer, later connected with academies in Wilno (now Vilnius, Lithuania). No sooner had the Academy opened than it encountered obstacles thrown up by the Cracow Academy. As a result, it was never granted the right to award academic degrees throughout its entire existence. The establishment of a Jesuit college in Poznań in 1570 was an additional hurdle. The two schools maintained their rivalry until the 18^th century. The Lubrański Academy came to an end in 1780, when it was merged with the Wielkopolska Academy (the former Jesuit college) to form the Poznań Department School.