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EXPLORER

Ruy López de Villalobos

1500 - 1544

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Ruy López de Villalobos (Spanish pronunciation: [ruj ˈlopeθ ðe βiʝaˈloβos]; c. 1500 – 23 April 1546) was a Spanish explorer who led a failed attempt to colonize the Philippines in 1544, 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 Mexico 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 the "Philippine Island" in honor of the Spanish crown prince Philip (later King Philip II). Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Ruy López de Villalobos has received more than 397,096 page views. His biography is available in 23 different languages on Wikipedia. Ruy López de Villalobos is the 219th most popular explorer (down from 181st in 2019), the 788th most popular biography from Spain (down from 683rd in 2019) and the 38th most popular Spanish Explorer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 400k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 53.86

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 23

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 3.46

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 2.99

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

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Among EXPLORERS

Among explorers, Ruy López de Villalobos ranks 219 out of 405Before him are Bento de Góis, Jan Czerski, Cristoforo Buondelmonti, Alejandro Malaspina, René Caillié, and Jean-Baptiste Charcot. After him are Wulfstan of Hedeby, Lady Hester Stanhope, Julius Popper, Niccolò de' Conti, Nikolaus Federmann, and Thorvald Asvaldsson.

Most Popular Explorers in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1500, Ruy López de Villalobos ranks 33Before him are Nuno Tristão, Luis de Milán, Jan Mandijn, Ambrosius Benson, Gaspar de Lemos, and Sebald Beham. After him are Jacob Hutter, Jan Sanders van Hemessen, Luis de Narváez, Leonardo III Tocco, Rum Mehmed Pasha, and Robert de Nola. Among people deceased in 1544, Ruy López de Villalobos ranks 10Before him are Antoine, Duke of Lorraine, Clément Marot, Pedro Damiano, Johannes Magnus, Valerius Cordus, and Louis V, Elector Palatine. After him are Antonio de Guevara, Teofilo Folengo, Bonaventure des Périers, and Nilakantha Somayaji.

Others Born in 1500

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Others Deceased in 1544

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In Spain

Among people born in Spain, Ruy López de Villalobos ranks 788 out of 2,932Before him are Infante Antonio, Duke of Galliera (1866), Aioulf (400), Salvador de Madariaga (1886), Andoni Goikoetxea Olaskoaga (1956), Wifred II, Count of Barcelona (900), and Melchor Cano (1509). After him are Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz (1606), Chus Lampreave (1930), Luis Ricardo Falero (1851), Luis Molowny (1925), Domingo de Soto (1494), and Juan O'Donojú (1762).

Among EXPLORERS In Spain

Among explorers born in Spain, Ruy López de Villalobos ranks 38Before him are Gerónimo de Aguilar (1489), Paulo da Gama (1465), Francisco de Bobadilla (1500), Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo (1499), Francisco de Montejo (1479), and Pedro Cieza de León (1520). After him are Pedro Arias Dávila (1443), Rodrigo de Bastidas (1460), Juan de Garay (1528), Pedro Menéndez de Avilés (1519), Juan Fernández (1536), and Sebastián Vizcaíno (1548).