Ruy López de Villalobos | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1500 |
| Died | 23 April 1546 (aged 45–46) |
| Known for | Sometimes credited withnaming thePhilippines |
Ruy López de Villalobos (Spanish pronunciation:[rujˈlopeθðeβiʝaˈloβos];c. 1500 – 23 April 1546) was aSpanishexplorer who led a failed attempt to colonize thePhilippines in 1544, attempting to assert Spanish control there under the terms of thetreaties of Tordesillas andZaragoza. Unable to feed his men through barter, raiding, or farming and unable to request resupply fromNew Spain due to poor knowledge of thePacific's winds and currents, Villalobos abandoned his mission and fled to thePortuguese-heldMoluccas, where he died in prison. He is chiefly remembered for some sources crediting him with namingLeyte andSamar "Las Islas Filipinas" in 1543 in honor of the Spanishcrown princePhilip (later King Philip II). Thename was later extended across the entirePhilippine Archipelago andits nation. (Other sources credit the name to one of his captains,Bernardo de la Torre.)
Ruy López de Villalobos was born inMálaga, 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 andPedro de Alvarado referred to him as "a very expert and practical gentleman in things of the sea."[1]
Villalobos was commissioned in 1541 byAntonio de Mendoza, theviceroy ofNew Spain and first colonial administrator in theNew World, to send an expedition to thePhilippines, then known to the Spanish as the "Islands of the West" (Islas del Poniente). They lay at the far western frontier of the division of the world betweenSpain andPortugal established by thetreaties of Tordesillas andZaragoza—in fact they lay over the line within the Portuguese area—and there was a need to establish a larger Spanish presence there as a base for trade with theSpice Islands andChina. If possible, the goal was to extend Spanish control over theMoluccas in thePortuguese East Indies.[2][3] Villalobos was chosen for the command because he wasrelated to De Mendozaby marriage.[2]
Villalobos's fleet of six ships leftBarra de Navidad,Jalisco, in New Spain (nowMexico) with 370–400 men on 1 November 1542:[2]
The large number of passengers included a unit of soldiers and a number of gentlemen, who broughtblack slaves and about 40Indian men and women as servants.[4] Martín de Islares acted asfactor and interpreter;Guido de Lavezaris, latergovernor of thePhilippines, as treasurer;Maestre Anes ("Master Hans"), previously part of both theMagellan andLoaísa expeditions, as chief gunner; and Gerónimo de Santisteban as head of the voyage's clergy, which included 3 otherAugustinianpriests and 4 or 5deacons.[4]
The fleet first encountered theRevilla Gigedo Islands off the west coast of New Spain, among which the sighting ofRoca Partida was reported for the first time. On 26 December 1542 they sighted a group of islands in theMarshalls that they called the Corals (Corales), which most probably are those of theWotje Atoll. They thought these to be the Islands of the Kings (Los Reyes) previously charted byÁlvaro de Saavedra in his 1528 expedition. They anchored at one of the islets, which they named San or Santo Esteban ("St. Stephen").[2] 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 theGarden Islands (Los Jardines),[2] now theKwajalein Atoll. On 23 January 1543,[2] the expedition foundFais in theCarolines, which they charted as the Sailors (Matelotes).[b] On 26 January 1543, they charted some new islands as the Reefs (Los Arrecifes) which have since been identified as theYaps, also part of theCarolines.[5][6]
According toSpate, Villalobos's crew included thepilot Juan Gaetan, credited byLa Perouse for the discovery of Hawaii.[7] Gaetan's voyage was described in similar terms in 1753 with the same sequence of islands and no identification of any others known by the time of the account.[8] In 1825, the Portuguese geographer Casado Giraldes stated that the "Sandwich Islands"—i.e. the Hawaiian Islands—were discovered by Gaetan in 1542 and did not even mentionJames Cook.[9]
From 6–23 January 1543, the galleySan Cristóbal—now piloted by De Mafra—was separated from the other ships after a severe storm. It eventually reached the island of Mazaua, where Magellan had anchored in 1521.
Although he was attempting to reachCebu, Villalobos ignored the advice of his pilot to lead the ships north ofMindanao.[3] Instead, on 2 February, the fleet reached northeasternMindanao, exposed to the weather coming from the open ocean and separated from anyChinese orMalay traders.[10] Stuck in place, they repaired their ships after the voyage.[2]Bernardo de la Torre[11] or Villalobos[10] namedMindanaoCesarea Karoli (Latin:Caesarea Caroli) in honor of theHabsburgemperorCharles V, who was alsoking of Spain as Carlos I. They resorted to eatinggrubs, unknown plants,land crabs that sickened the crew, and aphosphorescent gray lizard which killed most of those who ate it.[10] After several days, they reachedSarangani, where they lost six men while raiding a local village for supplies. During this period, eitherBernardo de la Torre[12][13] or Villalobos[10] namedLeyte andSamar the Philippines (Felipinas) in honor of Charles's son thecrown princePhilip (later King Philip II).
On 7 August a Portuguese ship arrived with a letter from Jorge de Castro, governor of theMoluccas. De Castro demanded an explanation for the presence of the Spaniards in Portuguese territory, in response to which Villalobos drafted a letter dated 9 August. His letter repeated the Spanish claims to the islands, saying they were within the Demarcation Line of theCrown of Castile under the relevant treaties.[14]
On 27 August theSan Juan left for New Spain under De la Torre, directed to explain the expedition's difficulties and request additional supplies and reinforcements. A second letter from De Castro arrived in the first week of September; Villalobos's reply dated 12 September repeated the same claims as before. TheSan Juan—having passed theVolcano Islands and possibly theBonins without being able to replenish its water—returned in mid-October without completing its mission.[c] (No attempt to cross the Pacific from west to east would be successful for another two decades.) Villalobos again attempted to depart for Cebu[10] with theSan Juan andSan Cristóbal, but again failed to make headway against unfavorable winds. The natives refused to provide any supplies even for sail, fearing Portuguese retribution.[10]
De la Torre having died, theSan Juan was refitted for another attempt to reach New Spain underYñigo Ortiz de Retez using a southerly route instead.[10] This left on 16 May 1545 and hugged the coast ofNew Guinea—which Ortiz de Retez named—until 12 August, when the ship was forced to turn back once again.[10] It reachedTidore in October.[10] Repulsed by hunger, hostile natives, and further shipwreck, Villalobos finally abandoned the remaining goals of the expedition. He and his crew members sought refuge in theMoluccas but, quarrelling with the Portuguese, were imprisoned.
Villalobos died of atropical fever onGood Friday 23 April 1546,[10] in his prison cell onAmbon Island. The Portuguese described him dying "of a broken heart".[17] Popular legend made his deathbed nurse theJesuitmissionary and latersaintFrancis Xavier.[2][10]
Some 117 of the crew survived, including De Mafra, Juan Gaetan, andGuido de Lavezaris. Juan Gaetan's account of the Villalobos voyage was published in 1550–1559 byGiovanni Battista Ramusio, an Italian historian, in hisNavigations and Travels (Navigationi et Viaggi).[18] De Mafra produced a manuscript onMagellan's voyage and had this delivered to Spain by a friend. Thirty—including De Mafra—elected to remain instead. His manuscript remained unrecognized for many centuries until being rediscovered in the early 20th century. The survivors who had left Spain or Portugal and returned home were individuallycircumnavigators of the world, although the expedition itself did not accomplish that.
The inaccurate accounts of Villalobos and his men led Spain to believe that the Pacific was much smaller than it actually was for the rest of the 16th century.[19]
