The university is conventionally said to have been founded in 1222 ( which corresponds to the first time when the University is cited in a historical document as pre-existing , therefore it is quite certainly older ) when a large group of students and professors left the University of Bologna in search of more academic freedom ( ` Libertas scholastica ' ) .
The university is usually said to have been founded in 1222 when a big group of students and professors left the University of Bologna .