Ruy López de Villalobos
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Ruy López de Villalobos (c.1500 - 1544) was a Spanish explorer who sailed the Pacific from Mexico in search of the Spice Islands, and reached the Philippine Islands in 1543.
Villalobos was commissioned by the viceroy of New Spain, Antonio de Mendoza, in 1541 to lead an expedition for the East Indies. He left Mexico with four ships in 1542. His fleet first reached the southern coast of Luzon island where it anchored for a brief period. He and his crew members then made their way to the islands of Samar and Leyte, where he named them (Las Islas Folipinas / The Philippine Islands) in honour of Philip II. Driven away by hostile natives, hunger and a shipwreck, Villalobos was forced to abandon his settlements in the islands and the expedition. He and his crew members sought refuge in the Moluccas where they quarrelled with the Portuguese, who imprisoned them.
Villalobos later died in his prison cell on the Island of Amboyna, under the care of Saint Francis Xavier, Apostle to the Indies. Some remaining crew members survived and managed to escape and return to New Spain.
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