Ruy López de Villalobos (; – 23 April 1546) was a Spanish explorer who led a failed attempt to colonize the Philippines in 1543, attempting to assert Spanish control there under the terms of the treaties of Tordesillas and Zaragoza. Unable to feed his men through barter, raiding, or farming and unable to request resupply from Mexico due to poor knowledge of the Pacific's winds and currents, Villalobos abandoned his mission and fled to the Portuguese-held Moluccas, where he died in prison. He is chiefly remembered for some sources crediting him with naming Leyte the "Philippine Island" in honor of the Spanish crown prince Philip (later King PhilipII). The name was later extended across the entire Philippine Archipelago and its nation. (Other sources credit the name to one of his captains, Bernardo de la Torre.)
Background
Ruy López de Villalobos was born in Málaga, Spain sometime between 1505 and 1510. He was a member of a distinguished family and his father was a close associate of the king, Ferdinand II of Aragon. He was well educated and may have studied law. At some point he became an experienced mariner and Pedro de Alvarado referred to him as "a very expert and practical gentleman in things of the sea."
Philippine Expedition
Villalobos was commissioned in 1541 by Antonio de Mendoza, the viceroy of New Spain and first colonial administrator in the New World, to send an expedition to the Philippines, then known to the Spanish as the "Islands of the West" (). They lay at the far western frontier of the division of the world between Spain and Portugal established by the treaties of Tordesillas and Zaragozain fact they lay over the line within the Portuguese areaand there was a need to establish a larger Spanish presence there as a base for trade with the Spice Islands and China. If possible, the goal was to extend Spanish control over the Moluccas in the Portuguese East Indies. Villalobos was chosen for the command because he was related to De Mendoza by marriage.
Villalobos's fleet of six ships left Barra de Navidad, Jalisco, in New Spain (now Mexico) with 370–400 men on 1 November 1542: His flagship () was the of 150–200 toneladas, formerly owned by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo. He chose Gaspar Rico as the expedition's chief pilot (). The second shipthe fleet's was the 120-tonelada galleon , equipped with a cutwater () and under the command of Bernardo de la Torre and his pilot Alonso Fernández Tarifeño. The third ship of 90–100 toneladas is variously referenced as the , the , the , and the ("Seven Greyhounds"). It was captained by Francisco Merino and piloted by Francisco Ruiz. The fourth ship of 70 toneladas was the under Alonso Manrique, piloted by Ginés de Mafra, who had been a member of the 1519–1522 Magellan expedition. The fifth was the galley under Pedro Ortíz de Rueda, piloted by Antonio Corço and powered by sails and 20 pairs of oars. The last was the fusta under Juan Martel, piloted by Cristóbal de Pareja and powered by sails and 14 pairs of oars.
The large number of passengers included a unit of soldiers and a number of gentlemen, who brought black slaves and about 40 Indian men and women as servants. Martín de Islares acted as factor and interpreter; Guido de Lavezaris, later governor of the Philippines, as treasurer; Maestre Anes ("Master Hans"), previously part of both the Magellan and Loaísa expeditions, as chief gunner; and Gerónimo de Santisteban as head of the voyage's clergy, which included 3 other Augustinian priests and 4 or 5 deacons.
The fleet first encountered the Revilla Gigedo Islands off the west coast of Mexico, among which the sighting of Roca Partida was reported for the first time. On 26 December 1542 they sighted a group of islands in the Marshalls that they called the Corals (), which most probably are those of the Wotje Atoll. They thought these to be the Islands of the Kings () previously charted by Álvaro de Saavedra in his 1528 expedition. They anchored at one of the islets, which they named San or Santo Esteban ("St. Stephen"). They left on 6 January 1543 and that same day they sighted several small islands on the same latitude as the Corals, which they named the Garden Islands (), now the Kwajalein Atoll. On 23 January 1543, the expedition found Fais in the Carolines, which they charted as the Sailors (). On 26 January 1543, they charted some new islands as the Reefs () which have since been identified as the Yaps, also part of the Carolines.