A number of Maronite historians claim that their people were the descendants of the Canaanites or Phoenicians, or also the Mardaites, residents in parts of Caliphate province of Bilad al-Sham, who have kept their identity under both Eastern Roman and Arab authorities.
The reason for their adoption of the name is disputed and historians disagree whether it refers to Mar Maron, a fourth-century Syriac Christian saint, or to John Maron, the first bishop of Lebanon.
The Maronites make up the bulk of the Maradite army, the so-called "Brass Wall" that shields Constantinople and its empire from Arab expansion.
In 686, the Maradites had used their power and importance to choose John Maron, one of their own, as Patriarch of Antioch and all the East.
John had received the approval of Pope Sergius I, and had become the first Maronite Patriarch of the oldest see in Christianity.
The emperor Justinian II had feared the growing power of the Maradite army, and was angered that his approval had not been sought for the appointment of John as Patriarch.
He had sent his army to defeat the Maradites and capture John.
They managed to win battles against the Maradites, overrun Antioch, and destroy the monastery there, killing five hundred monks in the process.
John, however, had escaped to Lebanon.
When Justinian's army followed, the Maradites, under the leadership of John's nephew Ibrahim, had defeated them decisively, sending them home empty-handed.
John had then founded the monastery of Reesh Moran (head of our Lord) in Kefer Hay, Lebanon, and moved his see to Mount Lebanon.
The Maradites have sealed themselves off from the outside, and founded their own national and religious identity, though still part of the Catholic Church, with John seen as one of their great founders.
The Maronites have developed a distinct political and communal organization by the time of John Maron’s death in 707.
