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THE EXPEDITION OF RUY LOPEZ DE VILLALOBOS—1541-46
[The expedition of Villalobos,[1] although productive of slight immediate result, paved the way for the later and permanent expedition and occupation by Legazpi. For this reason—and, still more, because this was the first expedition to the Western Islands (in contradistinction from the Moluccas), which included the Philippine group, and because
- ↑ Ruy Lopez de Villalobos is said to have been a man of letters, licentiate in law, and born of a distinguished family in Malaga; he was brother-in-law of Antonio de Mendoza, who (then viceroy of New Spain) appointed him commander of the expedition here described. Departing from Navidad, Mexico (November i, 1542), he reached Mindanao on February 2 of the following year; he was the first to make explorations in that island. It was he who bestowed upon those islands the name Filipinas (Philippine), in honor of the crown-prince Don Felipe of Spain, afterward known as Felipe II; he conferred this appellation probably in 1543. The Portuguese, then established in the Moluccas, opposed any attempt of Spaniards to settle in the neighboring islands, and treated Villalobos as an enemy. After two years of hardships and struggles, he was obliged to place himself in their hands; and, departing for Spain in one of their ships, was seized by a malignant fever, which terminated his life at Amboina, on Good Friday, 1546. In his last hours he was spiritually assisted by St. Francis Xavier (styled "the Apostle of the Indies"). For biographical material regarding Villalobos, see Dic.-Encic. Hisp.-Amér., article: "Lopez de Villalobos;" Galvano's Discoveries of the World (Hakluyt Society edition), pp. 231-238; and Buzeta and Bravo's Diccionario Filipinas; Retana's sketch, in his edition of Zúñiga's Estadismo, ii, p. 593*.
