The academy was the first tertiary-level school in Poznań and the first modern humanist university in Poland. It was founded in 1518 by the local bishop, Jan Lubrański, who, aided by King Sigismund the Old, also provided necessary funds to support the work of the school. It was in its prime in the second quarter of the sixteenth century when Christoph Hegendorfer, an eminent German humanist, became one of the lecturers. The school, named after its founder, provided education to many eminent Poles such as the poet Klemens Janicki, writers Krzysztof and Łukasz Opaliński, the physician Józef Struś and the mathematician, astronomer and philosopher Jan Śniadecki. The school ceased to exist in 1780 when it merged with the Wielkopolska Academy (the former Jesuit College) to form the Poznań Department School.