The article is an attempt to determine whether the activity of bishops from outside the Gniezno metropolis extended to Polish lands, including the then centers of Latin-European civilization. The participation of representatives of the Polish episcopate in the ecumenical councils was an opportunity to go beyond the boundaries of the metropolis of Gniezno. In the case of the Council of Lyons, they concerned, among others, the problem of organizing another crusade in the Middle East, the threat from the Tatars and confirming the union with Byzantium and the Greek Church. Polish bishops and their entourage, present at the general councils, then passed on the acquired knowledge about their own reality. There was also a reverse process: thanks to close contacts with specific Polish hierarchs, the Holy See obtained more information about the Church in Gniezno.