Ruy López de Villalobos (1500 – 1544) was a
Spanish explorer who sailed the
Pacific from
Mexico to establish a permanent foothold for Spain in the
East Indies, which was near the Line of Demarcation between Spain, and
Portugal specified by the
Treaty of Saragossa in 1529.
López de Villalobos was commissioned in 1541 by the Viceroy of New Spain, Antonio de Mendoza, who was the first colonial administrator in the New World, to send an expedition to the Islas del Poniente, meaning Island of the West, now known as the Philippines. His fleet of six galleon ships, the Santiago, Jorge, San Antonio, San Cristóbal, San Martín, and San Juan, left Barra de Navidad, Jalisco, Mexico with 370 to 400 men on November 1, 1542. On December 25, the fleet headed towards Revilla Gigedo Islands off the west coast of Mexico. They sighted Alavaro de Saavedra's Los Reyes galleon ship. The following day they discovered a group of islands at 9° or 10°N which they named Corrales, and anchored at one of these islands. On January 6, 1543, several small islands on the same latitude were seen, and named them Los Jardines (The Gardens). This was the island of Eniwetok, and Ulithi.
Between January 6 to 23, 1543, the galleon San Cristóbal piloted by Gines de Mafra, who was a member of the crew of the Magellan expedition in 1519-1522, was separated from the fleet during a severe storm. This ship eventually reached the island of Mazaua, a place were Magellan anchored in 1521. This was the second visit of de Mafra to the Philippines, which is identified today as Limasawa in the southern island of Leyte. The story of Limasawa was written in 1667 by a Jesuit priest, Friar Francisco Combés. His documents on "Limasawa" has been translated by historians.[1]
On February 29, 1543, they entered Baganga Bay, which they named Malaga on the eastern coast of Mindanao. López de Villalobos named Mindanao Caesaria Karoli after the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V of Spain. The fleet stayed there for 32 days; the entire crew suffered extreme hunger. On March 31, 1543, the fleet left in search of Mazaua for food. Because of low-winds they could not sail on. After several days of struggle, they reached Sarangani.
