Ruy López de Villalobos

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 New Spain 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 and Samar "Las Islas Filipinas" in 1543 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 sailor and Pedro de Alvarado referred to him as "a very expert and practical gentleman in things of the sea."

Philippine expedition The plaque in Málaga, Spain, Villalobos's home town, commemorating his naming of the Philippines. 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: Stuck in place, they repaired their ships after the voyage.